A World of Our Own
by LittleGreenPuppy
Summary: There are a lot of struggles to be had when going through an arranged marriage, especially if your fiancé is one of the richest, most famous heirs of the modern age. Modern Day Ereri AU with a side of arranged marriage.
1. This is My Future

**Alright, alright, alright. New story. Multichapter. For Attack on Titan. Lots of Ereri too. Looks like fun right?**

**So this was a story idea I've had and been writing since March and I'm FINALLY putting it up for others to read. I already have up to 14 chapters written in advance so if anything you guys will get at least 14 chapters of this story before the possibility of me dropping it T^T**

**Also****, as a side note, since this was thought up and written back in March (before I started the manga) there are no manga spoilers, AKA last names and new characters regarding certain newly revealed last names. Thus, there will also be a few OCs of my own creation. Try not to hate them too much.**

**Summary:**** There are a lot of struggles to be had when going through an arranged marriage, especially if your fiancé is one of the richest, most famous heirs of the modern age.**

**Pairings:**** Ereri (Eren and Levi) mainly. Then there are a few side ships including, but not limited to, JeanMarco and Yumikuri.**

**Rating:**** T and it will stay T because I can't for the life of me write sex scenes. At all. Don't ask me. It won't happen. I'm sorry. I'm a failure.**

_**And so… without further ado… I give you… the story… -curtain rises-**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: This is my Future<strong>

He couldn't do it.

There was absolutely no way he could do it.

Never in a million years and beyond would he ever be able to do it.

"I'm not kissing Jean," Eren Jaeger, a young man with brown hair and stunning sea green eyes, stated defiantly. He and a couple of his friends were waiting in the parking lot after school, as they did every day, while waiting for the rest of their group to show up so they could leave.

"Oh, come on!" another young man, Reiner Braun, exclaimed. This one had blond hair and was fairly buff.

The young woman next to him, Ymir, was equally dismayed. "Yeah! It'll be totally hysterical!" She had freckles and dark hair that was always tied up in a ponytail.

"I'm not kissing a horse so you guys can laugh!" At that point, two other guys from Eren's group of friends appeared. One had two-toned tan hair and a permanently conceited or pissed off look on his face. Right now he had the latter. That was Jean Kirstein. The other one, who had been trailing behind Jean, was Marco Bodt. He had freckles, dark hair, and was much, much nicer than Jean.

"Damn it, Jaeger! I'm not a fucking horse!" Jean yelled at Eren. Everyone there rolled their eyes. Jean and Eren fought all the time. They were the best of friends, and if one of them was in trouble the other wouldn't hesitate to help, but they also drove each other insane and showed their friendship through insults and flying fists.

"Could've fooled me," Eren said with a snide grin.

"You asshole!" Jean launched forward in an attempt to retaliate with violence, as what most of their fights usually came to, but was quickly stopped.

"Calm down, Jean!" Marco cried, pulling Jean back. He wrapped his arms around Jean and whispered soothing words coupled with little kisses. In case it wasn't obvious, Jean and Marco were dating. It had taken a long time for them to realize it too, mostly due to Jean's stubborn insistence that he was straight.

"Eren, why do you always have to start fights with Jean?" a girl with black hair and a bright red scarf that was always wrapped around her neck asked from beside Eren. She'd been there all along. That was Mikasa Ackerman, Eren's adopted sister. They were practically inseparable, much to Eren's dismay. While Mikasa had a strong sisterly love for brother that required her to take care of him, Eren saw it mostly as a nuisance and very annoying, regardless of how many times that devotion had saved him from getting the ever loving crap beaten out of him.

"Hey! It's not my fault! They started it!" Eren griped, pointing at Ymir and Reiner.

"You guys fight all the time, you don't need our help," Ymir laughed in a cheeky manner. She was nudged from the side by a small blonde, Christa Lenz, also known as a goddess, the sweetest and prettiest girl in school, and, most importantly, Ymir's girlfriend of three years.

"Well, they might not have fought if you hadn't provoked Eren, Ymir," she reprimanded in her sugar like voice. Ymir only laughed more, hugging her girlfriend tightly.

"Oh, those two idiots would have fought even without me and Reiner saying anything!" Ymir nuzzled the top of Christa's head. "You're just too sweet, Christa!"

"Ymir! Stop it!" Christa giggled, clutching her girlfriend back and clearly not truly meaning what she'd just said.

"Do you have to be so lovey dovey all the time?" Jean grumbled.

"You're one to talk." Why, Eren? Why provoke him even more? Jean glared.

"What was that?"

"How can you say anything about Ymir and Christa being "so lovey dovey" when you've still got Marco wrapped around you like a scarf." Jean sputtered out incoherent words, and Eren smirked.

"Speaking of lovey dovey and significant others, where the hell is Berthold?" Reiner asked. Berthold Hoover was Reiner's shy and tall boyfriend, though they kept quiet about it. Berthold, being as shy as he was, was still fairly uncomfortable with public displays of affection. Though, that didn't stop Reiner from teasing him every now and then. Marco, still hugging a stuttering Jean, answered him.

"Armin told me that he, Annie, and Berthold would be running a bit behind. They have a test last period and I heard Mr. Zackly's tests usually run a couple minutes over." Most of the group groaned at that.

"Man, I hated Mr. Zackly when I had him for history!" Eren flopped back on the hood of Ymir's truck in remembrance.

"Hah! If I remember correctly, he hated you just as much!" Reiner grinned, kicking Eren's leg lightly.

"Jean, too!"

"Hey! It was Eren's fault!"

"Now listen here, horseface-"

"So," Marco cut in before things got too heated. "Is everyone excited for our trip?"

For spring break this year, the group decided to spend the week at Christa's parent's lake house a couple of hours away. Christa's family was loaded. They owned a fairly successful jewelry business, made millions, and everyone knew. For a while after she came to Sina High School during freshman year, everyone talked to her and tried to be her friends for the sole purpose of either trying to get in her pants, since she was so pretty, or in hopes that they would have an expendable money source. It took months for Christa to be able to fully trust everyone that she now called her friends after they met.

"Hell yeah!" Reiner fist pumped the air in excitement. "This is gonna be sweet!"

"And better yet, no adult supervision." Ymir winked suggestively at Christa, who then blushed a bright red.

"Oh man! If I'm gonna have to listen to you two going at it-" Jean warned.

"Like you two aren't gonna have sex!" Ymir protested.

"Everyone who has a boyfriend or girlfriend is gonna sex there this week," Reiner informed gleefully. "Sorry, Mikasa!"

"Don't forget about Armin and Annie!" Marco reminded them.

"Oh yeah! Cuz poor little Armin would be far too shy!" Ymir cackled at the thought.

Armin and Annie Leonhart had only recently started dating. Annie was blonde with blue eyes, same as Armin, only she had a silent fierceness about her. Actually, within their group of friends, Eren and Mikasa were the only ones who were still single at that time. Even Connie had a girlfriend, Sasha, the last of their group of friends. She was slightly crazy and had an unnatural obsession with food of any kind.

"I really hope this place has soundproof walls," Mikasa bemoaned, shaking her head. Eren placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I feel sorry for you," he confessed. "After hearing that, part of me is glad I'm not going."

"Oh, that's right," Christa recalled sadly. "You can't go…"

"Man that sucks!"

"Why is that again? Something about your dad?" Eren sighed.

"My dad signed me up for some business camp thing at some Ivy League school in hopes that I'll decide to give up on my dreams of actually enjoying life." He rolled his eyes at the thought.

Although, that wasn't entirely true.

You see, Eren had a secret. And a very big one at that.

What his friends didn't know, what the world didn't know, was that Eren Jaeger was the secret heir to the largest and most successful medical business at the time, the Jaeger Medical Company. It dealt with everything from producing and shipping medical supplies to actually owning hospitals around the country. In 10 years, the company had gone from the very bottom as a new business to the very top as the best. And in 20 years, the company hadn't waivered the slightest. What his friends also didn't know was that he was lying about spring break. He wasn't actually going to a business camp. No.

He was meeting his fiancé.

That's right, Eren Jaeger was engaged. The only problem was, he didn't know who he was engaged to.

Several years ago, before Eren was born, his dad, Grisha Jaeger, made a deal with a very large corporation that was about to buy him out. The deal was that the corporation would refrain from buying the Jaeger Medical Company, and instead, in 20 or so years, the future first born of Grisha and the then newly born first born of the son of the head of the corporation would marry when both were at least 18 years old and merge the two companies together with all of the assets to be transferred to the corporation. The corporation agreed.

The agreement would work out for everyone in the end anyway. If the agreement worked, then Grisha would not only be able to run his company for at least a good 18 years and hopefully make plenty of money out of it, but he would also be associated with one of the most prestigious, wealthiest, and oldest corporation in the country, assuring his financial security.

The corporation, in turn, would also benefit as they would not have to spend money trying to buy out the Jaeger Medical Company and wouldn't have to worry about building it up and making it profitable; that would be Grisha's job over the next 18 years. Plus, the corporation had an 18 year window for if the Jaeger Medical Company ended up crashing and burning. If that happened, then the corporation could simply cut off the arrangement and either buy the Jaeger Medical Company for dirt cheap or let it burn on its own.

The only problem that could occur would be if Grisha could not produce an heir. Then, if the Jaeger Medical Company was successful, the corporation would either have to spend even more money to buy the company or give up on it all together. However, there wasn't a worry, because eight years after the agreement, Eren, the sole heir to the Jaeger Medical Company was born.

No one knew that Eren was the heir, though. Grisha had raised him away from any spotlight or excess money. Part of the reason was that Grisha didn't want his son to be spoiled. The other was to keep Eren and his fiancé from knowing who the other was. Because of the age difference, both parties thought it would be best to separate them until Eren became of age. There were far too many things that could go wrong otherwise, especially with the media.

So Eren was kept in the dark, away from the prying eyes of the media and any knowledge of who his intended might be. The only things Eren knew was that he was in an arranged marriage and that his intended was male also. Anything more and Grisha clammed up. Though, he had no problem constantly reminding Eren of his situation, especially when Eren wanted to start dating. No dating was allowed for Eren due to his engagement, much to Eren's displeasure.

And it wasn't just the dating issue that Eren hated. He hated everything about his arranged marriage. The fact that he had to get married to a stranger. The fact that he had to get married to a stranger for business reasons. The fact that his fiancé was a _stranger_. He was going to meet his fiancé tomorrow, and then in two months when he graduated, they would be officially announced as engaged. Then he had to spend the rest of his life legally bonded to that stranger, who may or may not be a complete and total asshole, douchebag extravaganza.

But, since his 18th birthday was just a couple days ago, meaning he'd finally come of age, it was decided that he and his fiancé would spend his spring break together.

Whether he liked it or not.

* * *

><p>Eren, now finally home, collapsed onto his bed. He wasn't sure if he should be happy that he was out of school or wishing he could go back. Because if he wasn't home, then his dad couldn't drag him out to meet his fiancé.<p>

Fiancé… God how he hated that word.

It was supposed to describe the person you loved. The one you wanted to spend the rest of eternity with. The one you chose. But to Eren, all it meant was prison. To be chained to someone for the sole purpose of business. Like a dispensable object that can be traded or sold.

There was a knock at his door. Eren lifted his head, calling out a 'come in'. Mikasa poked her head in.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, leaning against the door frame. Eren laid his head back down.

"I'm about to be sold to the highest bidder. How do you think I feel?"

"You better not let dad hear you say that. Again."

"Whatever!" Eren yelled, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "It's his own fault! I mean, did he really think that when he made the deal that I would be perfectly fine with it?!" He grabbed one of the pillows on his bed and threw it at the wall. "I'm not some robot!" He threw another pillow. "I've got feelings and opinions!" Another pillow. "I want to live my own life!"

"Eren."

He paused in throwing his last pillow to see his mother, Carla, walk past Mikasa and into his room. She sat down next him and gently removed the pillow from his grasp. Next, she pulled him into a hug.

"It'll be alright. I promise," she said soothingly. His mother was a kind person with her brown hair pulled into a loose, side ponytail and warm brown eyes. She was a stay at home mom that took care of the cooking and cleaning so that they didn't have to hire a maid. She probably could've gotten a job if she wanted, but she said often enough that raising Eren was a tough enough job on its own.

"How do you know?" Eren asked, a little too harshly.

"How do you know that it won't be?" He didn't answer. "Eren, you're focusing only on what could go wrong. Why not try and see what good might come of it?"

"What good could come of it?!" He pulled out of her embrace. "I'm being forced into a marriage with a stranger!" Carla only smiled.

"You're very intent on believing that you're going to hate whoever you're marrying simply because you didn't choose them. What if you end up liking them?" she asked, nudging him with her shoulder. Eren was unconvinced, and it showed on his face.

"You really think that the chances of me liking him are all that great?"

"And what if he doesn't like Eren?" Mikasa added. "He's not exactly the friendliest of people out there." Eren deadpanned.

"Thanks, Mikasa. I can always count on you to cheer me up," Eren said dryly. "But it's a valid point. What if the guy hates my guts? Even if I'm really nice and whatever, what if he still hates me?"

Carla pursed her lips slightly in thought for a couple moments, looking away from her son's pleading face. Finally, she sighed, looking Eren straight in the eyes.

"I'm going to give you some advice, Eren," she began gingerly. "Don't think about it. Go visit for the week, get to know him, and then decide if this marriage is really so bad. I don't think you two are going to hate each other as much as you think, my son." She smiled and pushed her son on the shoulder lightly. "You already have one thing in common," she informed him smugly.

"Huh?" Eren furrowed his brow in confusion. "What's that?"

"You're both required to marry each other. This wasn't his choice either, you know. He was only a baby when the deal was made. So please, try not to give him a hard time about it." She gave him one last firm hug before turning to Mikasa. "Now! Mikasa, would you mind coming down to the kitchen and help me with dinner for a bit? I'm sure Eren has plenty of packing to do."

Mikasa nodded, sent one last worried glance towards Eren, and left. Carla stood and was about to follow until she felt a tug at her shirt. Eren grasped her shirt, staring at his lap.

"Mom."

Carla sat back down. "Hmm?"

Eren released his grip on her shirt. "In this world, everyone gets to marry who they want, whoever they love. They can choose who they want to spend the rest of their life with. You always tell Mikasa to only marry someone that she truly loves… So" Eren stared at his mother, his eyes wet with unshed tears. "Why can't I? Why is it only me who can't choose for himself?"

"Oh, Eren…"

Carla quickly pulled her son in for another hug, her heart breaking. She wished she could give him an answer.

After a couple of minutes of comforting hugs, Carla left for the kitchen, leaving Eren to his thoughts. Well, really, she'd left him to pack, but he wasn't going to pack so early. He didn't have to leave until tomorrow afternoon, so like hell if he was going to pack any time before half an hour until they had to leave.

Eren was thinking about maybe playing some video games to keep his mind off things and pass the time when his phone began to vibrate. Armin was calling.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Eren! Have you seen the news recently?!" Armin was practically yelling through the phone, obviously way too excited.

"Huh? No, I just got home."

"Quick! Get on your computer! I need to talk to someone about this!"

Eren walked over to his computer on his desk and opened it up. After some searching, he finally found what he assumed Armin was so jittery about.

"Enlarge your penis using this one weird trick?"

"Eren, you jerk! No!" Eren chuckled, starting to feel a little better.

"Recon creators Levi Voclain and Erwin Smith rumored to be engaged?"

Levi Voclain and Erwin Smith were two names that every teenager and business person nowadays knew. They had recently created a social media website called Recon. If you want to know what Recon is, just imagine all of the best parts of Facebook, Tumblr, and any game app you can think of all rolled into one. Recon hit it off with the crowd instantly (because, let's be honest, unless it's Google+, any social media website will become popular). But it wasn't just because it was a social media website, it was because of the game that came exclusively with Recon: Attack on Titan. It had something to do with a post-apocalyptic society fighting off giant, naked cannibals, and the game could be played easily via computer or phone.

There were actually more people involved in the making of Recon, but Levi and Erwin were the two faces of the website, mostly because everyone thought they were drop dead gorgeous. Plus, Levi was already well known in the business world. He was the current heir to the Voclain Corporation, a very old mega company owned by a very prestigious family that made its money off of stock and taking over other businesses, building them up, and then selling the company for even more money. Erwin became famous from association since he was Levi's closest friend and they'd known each other since middle school.

And apparently, now they were rumored to be engaged.

"Can you believe that?! Do you think it's true? Has my beloved Erwin Smith found the love of his life?" Armin gushed. He was probably making a bunch of overdramatic gestures, too.

"Armin, is there something you need to tell Annie?" Eren asked playfully, looking over the article. It had a picture of the two billionaires side by side.

"Oh, ha ha. Quiet you. I just admire him, is all!"

"And obsess over him and worship him and stalk him…"

"I-I do not!" Eren could hear the blush through Armin's voice and couldn't help but snicker a bit.

"Admit it. You have a crush on him."

"I do not! I do not! Besides, I'm never going to actually meet him so what's the point in having a crush on him. Which I don't!"

"Can you at least admit you have a celebrity crush on him?" There was no sound from the other end. "Celebrity crushes are okay you know."

"… Maybe… But only because I admire him! I mean, he's smart… charismatic…"

"Handsome…"

"Yeah… hand- Eren!" Eren couldn't help it, he laughed. He loved Armin and all, but he was just too gullible sometimes.

"No, but seriously, you think he's handsome don't you? Come on! You can appreciate how good someone looks without having to like them."

"We-Well… I guess. Do you think he is?"

"Yeah." Eren responded with no hesitation. Looking over the picture the article had. Erwin Smith was tall, broad shouldered, and had an impressive jawline. His blond hair was perfectly combed into place and he had a bright smile that reached his glistening blue eyes. _Very_ handsome. "He's really good looking. I bet all the girls, and some guys, drool all over him."

"What about Levi Voclain? Do you think he looks good?" Levi Voclain?

"Why? Don't tell me you've got a crush on him too!"

"No, no. I'm just curious."

Eren studied Levi. He was… significantly shorter than Erwin, by almost a full head. He was lithe, but still gave off the impression that he could easily kick your ass. And his expression only emphasized that impression. Not only was he not smiling, but his grey eyes were narrowed as if he was glaring at everyone around him. Eren decided that, yes, he was handsome, though a little too short for Eren's personal taste. He would look even better if he did something other than frown at the world.

"He's so grumpy… And short," Eren said in a deep, playful voice, like he was trying to imitate how he imagined Levi would speak in a serious manner but failing miserably from trying not to laugh. Armin was cracking up on the other end.

"If… If you ever meet him… you should tell him that… In that voice too," Armin managed between giggles.

"What? So I can die?" Eren asked, incredulous. "Just because you guys label me as a suicidal bastard doesn't mean I am."

There was another good round of laughter between the two of them before Armin spoke up again.

"Hey, you know what would be cool?"

"What?"

"If your fiancé ended up being Erwin Smith." Armin was the only person outside of Eren's family who knew about the marriage and Eren's secret identity. And it took a lot of crying, whining, and temper tantrums to convince Eren's dad to let him in on the secret. "Oh! Or, even better, Levi Voclain."

"Oh, god. Don't tell me that!" Eren buried his face in his free hand. "It's bad enough thinking about how I'll have to spend the rest of my life with some rich, and most likely asshole, stranger, but having to spend my life with some _famous_, rich asshole who helped create the biggest social media website since Facebook? No fucking thank you. I'd prefer to stay out of the media's attention."

"Come to think of it… you still haven't gotten an account on Recon yet, have you?!" Oh no, Armin please don't.

"Ugh, no I haven't. And I don't plan to any time soon."

"Why?" You know how this works Armin! No matter how much you try, Eren isn't going to get an account on Recon.

"It's just another social media website. It's just like Facebook, MySpace, and Google+ only there's like one feature that's different or new."

"That is so not true!" And here we go…

The rest of their conversation consisted of Armin trying to convince Eren how Recon was amazing while Eren tried to convince Armin that he wasn't going to get an account no matter how hard he tried to convince him.

At half past five, Eren's dad came home. In order to avoid confrontation, Eren locked himself in his room. Thankfully, his mom kept Grisha from bothering him. She told him Eren was upset about the marriage and should probably be left alone for a while. That is, unless he wanted to get into a fight right after he came home from work and right before dinner. So, for just a little while, a rare blanket of peace settled over the Jaeger household. That it, until dinner, when it was carelessly thrown off.

"So, have you finished packing yet?" Grisha asked. Eren refrained from groaning. The tension was already building.

"… No," he answered with a slight pause.

"Have you even started packing?" Eren didn't answer that time, opting instead for picking at his food. "Figures. You better start soon. I don't want to be late."

"Yeah, I hear slave auctions are really picky about punctuality," Eren muttered, both hoping that his dad did and did not hear it. He heard it.

"You're meeting your fiancé," Grisha said, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "You're not even getting married yet."

"Yet," Eren mumbled under his breath.

"So you are not a slave."

"You traded me in a business deal. I kind of feel like a slave. But, then again, who gives a fuck what I think? _Dad_ gets a business deal!" Eren sneered.

"You will not use that kind of language in this house!" Grisha reprimanded, pointing a finger at his son.

"Or what? You're gonna kick me out? Are you gonna disown me? Oh, wait! You can't! Because then who are you gonna barter away to fucking strangers?!" Eren was yelling at this point. He couldn't stop it.

"Eren, quiet. You don't know what you're talking about. And do not use that language in this house."

"You know what you could do? You could cancel my spring break. I hear a lot of parents like to do that," Eren said with fake innocence. "Only, I guess that wouldn't work for you since I'd actually want you to do that!"

Grisha slammed his hands on the table.

"Eren, so help me God, if you do not shut up I'm going to make you spend two weeks there." That shut Eren up good. He retreated to glaring spitefully at his dad while picking at his food. For a good couple of minutes, nothing but the sound of dinner filled the air through the thick tension. Then Grisha spoke again. "This agreement was made well before you were born. This benefits the entire family, including you."

"Me? How the hell does this benefit me?" Grisha only glared. Eren sighed bitterly and started again, this time without the dreaded curse words. "How does this benefit me?"

"Well." Grisha kept his voice stable and calm. "Not only will you not have to worry about your heart getting broken or deceived or trying to find someone worth marrying, but you will be much more financially stable than if you were to try and live off your… hobby."

Eren's eyes narrowed dangerously. Another very old argument started to surface.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You know very well what it means." Grisha evaded the question.

"No, I don't. I'm stupid, so, please, explain what you mean."

Grisha rolled his eyes. "You are not stupid. And I am just saying that those who write for a living, don't usually make enough to actually live comfortably. I don't care if you write. I don't care if you write a dozen or a hundred novels. But you need to admit that this hobby, is just that: a hobby. You won't get anywhere with it."

No one at the table moved, besides Grisha. Mikasa and Carla watched Eren frantically, but he hung his head so no one could see his expression. Neither one of them dared to interrupt, though. They found that interrupting or trying to stop one of Eren and Grisha's fights usually only made it worse.

Finally, Eren stood, keeping his face hidden.

"I'm done with dinner," Eren stated emotionlessly. He picked up his half-finished plate of food, walked into the kitchen, and dropped it in the sink carelessly. It made a loud sound but not loud enough to indicate that anything was broken.

He came back through the dining room, as it was the quickest way back to his room. Just as Eren was about to leave the dining room, he faced his dad, fists clenched, face red with anger, and eyes brimming with tears about to be shed.

"Oh, and Dad? Did you ever stop and think that maybe, just maybe, I would actually want to find someone worth marrying? On my own? Even though I'd have to deal with broken hearts and people who want to deceive me? At least then, I'd know if chose the right person in the end. Instead of having my dad decide what I want and hoping for the best."

With that, Eren ran out of the room and up the stairs before slamming his door shut as hard as he could, Mikasa not far behind. The sound of things crashing, muffled screaming, and Mikasa banging on Eren's door wafted down into the dining room.

Carla hid her face in her hands.

"Grisha… Why?" she moaned. He sighed in response, looking as exhausted as he felt.

"He's going to get over eventually. Of that I'm sure," he replied softly. "But right now he's just too angry about it. I just don't want him to have any extra anger bottled up before he meets his fiancé. I hope that if I can get him to release some of his anger before, he won't be so bad." Carla lifted her head from her hands.

"It doesn't take much to set him off, Grisha. You know that," she countered, overcome with worry for her son. "Even if you let him blow off steam here, he'll still be just as angry."

"I know, but I don't know what else to do, Carla?" he pleaded. "I only want what's best for him." Carla sighed.

"So an arranged marriage." It wasn't a question, but Grisha took it like one anyway.

"We've had this conversation, Carla."

"I know," she said softly, staring down at her hands on the table. "I've stopped judging you for it. But the closer it gets, the more real it becomes."

Grisha reached out and held his wife's hands in his own. It was the only way he could comfort her at this point. They held each other quietly and the harsh screams and crashes from upstairs slowly faded.

* * *

><p>Armed only with a backpack and a suitcase that he packed not thirty minutes before, Eren trudged down the stairs and through the front door where his father waited patiently against the car. He sighed dejectedly in defeat. He'd spent all of his life trying to fight this marriage, and nothing worked. Now he was walking straight into what he hated the most.<p>

"Shall we?"

Eren said nothing, but placed his stuff in the backseat anyway. He slid into the passenger's seat just as his father started the car. As the car began its drive, Eren watched as his house faded away.

Goodbye, home. Hello, Hell.

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><p><strong>If you have anything to say about this storychapter/plot **_**PLEASE**_** say so. Even if it's just like a… cool. Or whatever. XD**

**I hope you enjoyed it and are possibly looking forward to more!**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


	2. Into The Very Fancy Lion's Den

**In case you couldn't guess from this update, I'm going to try and keep this story on Monday updates. So now you guys have something to look forward to every Monday! :D**

**Also, another note that I forgot to mention last chapter: This is going to have a really slow build. Like… REALLY slow. Eren isn't even going to want to be near Levi for the next couple of chapters, let alone like him. But you guys will find that out shortly.**

**And just in case you all didn't know, I don't own any of the characters. So there's the disclaimer. Don't sue me.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: Into the Very Fancy Lion's Den<strong>

"Eren, stop pouting. No matter how much you mope around and sulk, the fact is you're getting married."

"I'm not pouting." Oh yes he was, but hell if he was ever going admit it. "I just don't think it's fair. Why should I have to marry some stranger for a stupid business agreement?" Grisha kept his eyes on the road, but Eren could still feel annoyance radiating off of his father.

"That 'stupid business agreement' meant that I was able to keep my company so you could have a comfortable childhood. Meaning that your mother and I wouldn't have to struggle to feed and clothe you each day." Grisha gripped the steering wheel hard as he talked.

"18 years of comfort, some of which I don't even remember 'cause I was too young, in exchange for 60, and possibly more, years of pain and torture at the hands of some rich stranger? I think I'll pass."

"Watch your mouth. This agreement was made well bef-"

"Well before I was born…" Eren waved a hand in the air in a nonchalant manner, like waving away a fly. "Yeah, you've reminded me of that little fact my whole life."

"And stop being so melodramatic. I don't know how well you two will get along, but if you actually talk to the guy, and not try to pick a fight with him like you do everyone, you may find that being married to him won't be so bad. Just behave when we get there and maybe it will turn out okay."

Eren didn't respond, his dad wasn't going to listen so there was no point in continuing the argument. He, instead, chose to stare out the window, noticing how the scenery had changed. The upper-middle class houses were gone and in their place were mini-mansions. They kept driving until the mini-mansions gave way to actual mansions, complete with overly large buildings and expensive looking yards. Even then, they kept going.

Eren was getting nervous. Just how rich were these guys? He knew the company his dad made the arrangement with was a pretty big deal, but they didn't live in a castle, did they? He silently hoped that they actually lived in a fairly upper-middle class house and the only way to get there was through all these rich neighborhoods. Anything above a mini-mansion made him nervous. With money comes class, and with class comes the expectation of acting sophisticated, refined and elegant, none of which Eren was. Just taking a quick look at the amount of notes on his record for "inappropriate behavior" and fighting on school grounds would prove that none of those words even came close to the definition of Eren Jaeger. He bit the knuckle of his thumb, a nervous habit he'd picked up a long time ago.

They would judge him. Heir of a large, successful company or not, they would see him only as some wild, barbaric thug. They would never take him seriously.

Finally, Eren felt the car slow down; they were turning onto a driveway with a large, automatic gate. Glancing around wildly, he took in his surroundings. The lot itself was surrounded by a tall, thick, red brick wall with the typical spikes on the top and ivy growing up the sides. It was far away from a lot of the other mansions and very, very large. The driveway was lined with beautifully placed flower fields and led up to a large plot of asphalt next to the side of the house, probably where the garage for their cars was.

Eren brought his gaze to the building in front of him.

Well, it wasn't a castle, but it certainly wasn't an upper-middle class house. It was made of a light grey stone with dark grey details, two stories (at least that's what it looked like from the outside), and very big, though probably normal sized for a mansion.

Eren was suddenly very distressed, and not just because of the mansion.

Part of the driveway circled around a large pond and fountain right in front of a set of stairs that led to the fancy marble porch. And standing on that fancy marble porch was his fiancé, someone who he knew surprisingly well.

Oh, the irony.

"Dad," Eren whispered frantically despite still sitting in the car. "Why didn't you tell me I was getting married to _him_?" Grisha had a slightly smug smile on his face.

"Oh? Starting to like him already?" Eren nearly smacked his forehead out of frustration.

"Dad! You don't understand! That's Levi Voclain! He created the biggest multi-billion dollar social media website since fucking Facebook!" Not to mention he was well known as an emotionless bastard who only knew how to look supremely pissed off at everything. Great, he got to marry everything he didn't want to marry: a short, antisocial, famous, bazillionaire with extra class on the side.

"And…?" Eren groaned.

"Dad, everybody knows who he is in my class. Everybody! He's literally all over the news!" And not to mention Armin _fucking called it_!

"I'm failing to see the problem here," Grisha sighed.

Eren was about to continue, but a servant, or at least he looked like a servant, opened his door for him. He muttered a thank you and stood up. His eyes wandered slowly up the porch steps until grey met green. The meeting didn't last long though, as Eren tore his gaze away. The intensity of Levi's harsh, scrutinizing stare made him nervous.

"Grisha! How nice to see you again!" It was then Eren realized there was a second person standing next to Levi. He was a couple inches taller than Levi, with Levi's same dark hair color (plus a couple extra grey hairs) in a different, shorter style and thin nose but had softer, rounder eyes. Levi's father.

"Carlton! It's wonderful to see you again." Great… there was that crappy business tone his father always got. "You look well, Levi. I hear you've made quite incredible progress in the business world already." Levi smiled politely. Huh, looks like he can do more than frown at the world after all.

"Thank you, Grisha." Eren was sure his heart had skipped a beat. Shit. Not only was he hot as fuck, but so was his voice. "I suppose I have, haven't I?" Wow… So modest… This guy was an asshole.

"Speaking of sons… I take it this is Eren, correct?" Carlton gestured to Eren.

"That's correct." Eren felt himself be pushed forward. He turned back with a pleading expression on his face, but all he got in return from his father was a cold, glare filled with promises of a missing Xbox if he didn't cooperate. Biting the inside of his cheek to keep his anger in, Eren faced Levi again. The bastard had an amused expression on his face. Eren's hands balled into fists.

"It's nice to meet you, Levi," he grunted grudgingly. Levi let out one short laugh.

"Yeah, because that wasn't forced at all." Eren glared at the sarcastic tone. Two could play at that game.

"Now what would give you the idea that any of this would be forced?" Eren asked, voice dripping with fake innocence and sarcasm. "It couldn't have anything to do with the arranged marriage now could it?" Levi's only response was a smirk.

Carlton clapped his hands together.

"Alright! Shall we start off with a tour of the house?"

"That sounds like a great idea." Levi started for the house first, then Carlton.

Grisha smacked Eren's arm when their backs were turned.

"Damn it, Eren," he hissed. "I told you to behave."

"He was asking for it!" Eren hissed back, rubbing his now sore arm. Grisha pushed Eren forward.

"Just follow along and don't get lost. And I don't want to hear any of your snarky responses."

"Whatever, dad…"

As Eren walked through the large, double doors leading into the mansion, he found out that the inside matched the outside in levels of fanciness. The floors were polished marble with an intricate design in the center of the giant foyer. There were two sets of curves stairs on either side of the room leading up to the second floor, also marble.

"Now, as you can see here…" Eren started to tune Levi's father out. For the most part, he could figure out on his own which room was which. "… We actually got this piece in the 1800's from my grandparents…" Oh for the love of God. Eren was definitely tuning him out. The last thing he needed was a history lesson on a bunch of décor. He took the time to look around on his own, though remaining in the room to avoid getting lost and raising suspicion that he wasn't actually listening.

On one side of the foyer (that's what it was called right?) there was what looked like a living room. Complete with a very expensive looking television over a fireplace. Eren could only hope they had a good selection of movies and games here. His dad made him leave all of his back home. On the other side was most likely the dining room, if the large table and chairs were any indication that is. An archway in between the two staircases led to a hallway. In the hallway, there was a set of open doors that led to what looked like the… family room? Eren could never tell the difference between the two. All he knew was that both rooms had fireplaces and expensive televisions. And all three rooms, including the foyer, had really fancy looking decorations.

Dressed in a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers, he felt very out of place. A strange feeling tickled the back of his mind, but it was so small that he didn't pay attention to it.

"Oi," Eren jumped a little, noticing Levi was now standing right in front of him and, damn, actually smelled pretty good… It smelled like he'd just gotten out of the shower but still just the tiniest bit earthy, his clothes had just been washed, and… was that… cleaning products he smelled? Weird. "You're not even paying attention are you?" Eren spared a glance to their fathers, both of which were still wrapped up in talking to each other about the décor.

"But this history lesson is just _so_ intriguing," he replied with a sarcastic and snobbish tone. Levi snorted amusedly, but even that sounded classy as fuck. Damn him.

"You are a fucking brat, you know that?" Eren wasn't really sure how to take that. Was that an insult or some kind of backwards compliment? He said it with a smile. What did that mean? He didn't get the chance to comment. "Father!" Levi called. "Are we going to show them around or inform them of the struggles and triumphs every piece of furniture endured to make it here?" Carlton paused before laughing.

"Oh I suppose you're right! Youngsters nowadays don't really care much for these kinds of things, now do they? They are so fast paced these days. Too busy worrying about Twitter and Facebook and now Recon. Hah! Isn't that right, Eren?" Carlton laughed while Eren gave an awkward half smile. It wasn't that he was in a hurry, he just didn't care. Plus he didn't really use social media all that much, but he didn't have the heart to tell the happy man that. He looked too proud at the fact that he'd even remembered the names. "Well, let's move on then. Now if you follow me…"

Grisha smiled as Carlton and Levi continued on into the hallway in between the staircases before turning to Eren with a sharp look.

_What did I tell you, Eren_? He mouthed. Eren shrugged angrily.

_I didn't fucking do anything_! He mouthed back. Grisha rolled his eyes before placing his happy mask back on and following the two Voclains through the house.

Eren found out that despite the large size of the mansion, there weren't as many rooms as he thought there'd be. He thought there would be at least 30 or 35 or even 50 rooms that were all laid out in a confusing, maze like layout, but there were only 15, and the layout was really simple. After the living room, family room, and dining room on the first floor there was the music room, the party room (Eren forgot what it was actually called, but basically it was a room where they held the parties and dinners for guests and usually remained empty), the kitchen (which was unnecessarily ginormous in Eren's opinion), and Levi's grandparent's room and study (Carlton firmly commanded Eren to never go in to either of those rooms without permission from his parents… but it was only a suggestion, right?).

On the second floor was where the library all the rest of the bedrooms were. All six of them. (Really? Six? Eren understood that two of those belonged to Carlton and Levi but how many bedrooms did one place need?) Unlike the first floor, which was primarily marble, the second floor was all carpet. Really soft and clean looking carpet too. It also turned out that Eren's bedroom (which was, once again, WAY too big for Eren's tastes. He even had his own bathroom, with a jacuzzi bathtub too, and walk in closet! Both also way too big) was right across the hall from Levi's. Literally. The doors lined up with each other perfectly.

But they didn't go inside Levi's room. Curiosity got the better of him, so Eren waited until the end of the tour to see. He watched his and Levi's fathers walk down the stairs before reaching for the door handle. A voice stopped him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Levi asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Eren started to rub the base of his neck, one of his nervous habits. He'd just been caught trying to sneak into someone's room after all.

"I wanted to see your room." Eren didn't really see any point in lying. What was he going to say? 'Oh! This is your room? I just thought the fancy double doors meant it was a closet.' "It wasn't really included in the Exclusive Voclain House Tour so…"

"Why do you want to see my room?" Levi fixed a questioning gaze on Eren and folded his arms over his chest.

"Well-"

"Also, if it was not included in the "Exclusive Voclain House Tour,"" –Levi mimicked Eren's voice there in a mocking manner, obviously not exactly ecstatic about the title– "then don't you think there would be a reason for that?" Eren frowned, his hand dropping from his neck.

"Your dad didn't say it was off limits-"

"So what?" Levi's voice started to rise in volume. "Does that mean if there was no sign on a cliff saying "Do Not Jump" then it would be a good idea to jump?"

"I never said it was a good idea. Just that it was never explicitly said that I couldn't go in." Levi took in a breath to retort, but Eren cut him off. "And besides," he started with a slight smirk. This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. He should stop. He should stop right now. He was going to have to spend the rest of his life with this guy.

But… what if they hated each other…? They couldn't continue with this stupid marriage if they were ready to rip each other's throats out at any given moment, right? They'd have to stop the marriage.

"As your fiancé, shouldn't I have a right to see what your room looks like?" Eren made to grab the door handle, but as soon as his fingers brushed against the cool metal they had been torn away. Levi was all too close and gripping Eren's wrist at an uncomfortable angle in a painful grasp.

But that wasn't what scared Eren.

It was Levi's completely emotionless face and unnatural calmness.

"First of all," Levi began, his level voice frightening Eren even more, though he refused to show it too much. "We are not officially engaged, yet. Therefore, you are not my fiancé. And, even if you were, unless you were planning on living with me in that room, meaning you'd being sleeping on my bed with me, I don't see any reason why you should poke your bratty nose through my stuff." Then, emotion flooded Levi's face, and not in a good way. He directed a glare straight into Eren's eyes that seemed to scorch his very soul. "Know this, shitty brat. I don't want to see your ill-bred ass anywhere near or in my room." Levi emphasized his point by shoving Eren into the wall next to his door, then he let go of Eren and left without a single backwards glance.

Eren, for the next several moments, remained rooted in his spot against the wall, trembling. He shakily wrapped his arms around himself.

It wasn't the strange calmness that had him so shaken. It wasn't the threat. It wasn't even the glare.

No.

What was affecting him the most, kept playing over and over in his head.

_I don't want to see your ill-bred ass…_

That strange feeling he'd ignored in the beginning of the tour, the one that had grown the tiniest bits throughout the tour, swelled. The air was getting thicker, and it was becoming hard to breath.

"Eren!"

It was his dad…

The feeling ebbed away, back to that small tickling in the back of his mind, and the air thinned out.

That was…. weird, to say the least. He let him arms fall loose and gave a frustrated groan. Why, oh why, did he have to open his big mouth? What the hell was he thinking?! God he was such an idiot. Why would he think that his dad would drop the engagement just because they didn't get along? His dad wouldn't care if Eren and Levi always had hidden knives everywhere for when they fought, he'd still continue with the marriage. And now, thanks to his genius thinking, Eren had ended up on Levi's bad side. And, from what he could tell, that was a VERY bad thing…

Although, Levi could've just said no. Was it really that hard? He didn't have to go through the theatrics.

"Eren! Come down already! Carlton said that dinner will be ready soon!"

Taking a few deep, and much needed, breaths, Eren prepared himself to face Levi. He would not let Levi take control of him. He was not going to bow down and submit to him. No matter how rich, or scary, he was.

Shaky legs brought Eren down the curved staircase and next to the dining room. Grisha, Carlton, and Levi were already sitting at the table. There were eight seats in all, two at each end and three on either side. Grisha and Carlton sat next to each other on one side, while Levi, the bastard who looked like what happened up stairs hadn't just happened, sat on the other side.

Eren made a move towards the chair next to his dad, but one look from Grisha stopped him. Grisha subtly gestured to the seat next to Levi, keeping an arm draped over the seat next to him to keep Eren from sitting there. Eren was about to protest, but Carlton chose that moment to notice his existence.

"Eren! It's about time you joined us," he joked. He held out a hand towards the seat next to Levi. "Come, sit."

Eren clenched his jaw and fists, really not wanting to sit next to that asshole. But, since he didn't want to make a scene, he reluctantly forced himself to walk over to Levi and sit next to him. He knew without even having to look at Levi that the Voclain heir was smirking, even if it was just the tiniest bit.

"So, Eren, how do you like our home?" Carlton questioned, the ever-present smile on his face.

It was too big. It was too fancy. There was too much décor. The bedrooms were unnaturally large. There was way too much marble. One of the occupants is a complete and totally asshole-douchebag of the highest degree.

"It's nice."

"Wow, you're so specific," Levi commented sarcastically. Carlton gave him a slightly chastising glance, but otherwise did nothing to correct his behavior. Envy swelled within Eren. His dad reprimanded him for every little thing he did, always treating him like a child. Levi's dad treated him like an adult. How Eren longed for that freedom.

"I, for one, think you have a lovely home," Grisha complimented. Way to suck up. Eren tuned everything out after that. Everyone else began discussing the mansion, and he couldn't really care less at that point. He rested his head on one of his hands and studied the flowery centerpiece of the table. It was really the most interesting thing in the room, mostly because it was right in front of Eren so he didn't have to exert energy trying to focus on something else. The flowers weren't real, and that kind of disappointed him.

The smell of dinner drifted through the air, making Eren's mouth water. As much as he disliked the house, and certain individuals living in the house, he couldn't deny that the food would probably be fantastic.

Eren was pulled from his thoughts by a nudge to his side, and, after taking in the expectant stares from everyone at the table, realized he'd been asked a question.

"Uh… yes."

There were three different reactions: Carlton chuckled, Grisha might as well have been questioning God why he'd been cursed with such an idiot, and Levi rolled his eyes, probably thinking the same thing as Grisha.

"He asked what your favorite part of the place was," Levi drawled in a patronizing manner.

Eren blushed. "Oh."

Well this was going to be difficult. What was his favorite part of the mansion? Nothing. In fact, he kind of hated the place. Let's see, what was the least detestable part of this horrid place?

A thought came to him, and he smirked on the inside. If Levi was going to hate him, there would be no half-assing it.

"I liked Levi's room."

Carlton laughed, and oh how Eren wished he could join in. But, he could feel the heat of anger emanating from Levi. He almost feared that he'd get burned for a bit.

"You didn't even see his room," Grisha pointed out, less than happy.

"That's true," Eren pouted, feigning disappointment. "I would love to see it, though." Carlton chuckled.

"Ah, well why don't you ask Levi?" Shit. "I'm sure he'd let you see it if you asked politely." Eren gulped, almost too scared to turn to Levi. He did anyway. There was an evil smirk on his face. Damn, for someone who only knew how to smirk and scowl, he sure knew how to add variety.

"Yes, why don't you ask _politely_?" Levi asked sweetly, putting extra emphasis on 'politely.' A connotation missed by their dads.

Eren was saved by dinner coming through the door. A small buffet of food was set on the table. But, Eren could only recognize a couple of the dishes. As the others began to dig in to the food presented, he held back, still trying to decipher what the dishes he didn't know were.

Levi, upon noticing Eren's distress, proceeded to point out which dish was which. It left Eren confused since the gesture was almost… nice.

"Lamb, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, caramelized pears, artichoke, rolls-"

"I know what they are," Eren snapped. He didn't want Levi's help, nor did he need it.

Levi raised his hands defensively, baffled. Eren glanced over towards their fathers and it appeared that neither of them had noticed the exchanged. The rest of dinner was mostly silent save for Grisha and Carlton's comments to each other here and there. For Eren and Levi, the dinner was spent in awkward silence. Which, in all honesty, was a much better option to Eren than talking to Levi.

When desert came, a rich chocolate raspberry cheesecake that Eren only poked and nibbled at, Carlton explained the rules for the week for both Eren and Levi:

1) Lunches and dinners were to be eaten together. Attending breakfast was not necessary as everyone tended to wake up at different times.

2) They could not spend all day in their rooms.

3) No sleeping in the same bed. (That one wouldn't be a problem. Eren was sure of that).

4) They had to at least attempt to hang out with each other.

There weren't very many rules, and Eren was okay with that. With dessert nearly finished for everyone else at the table, Grisha spoke up.

"Eren, since you seem to be done, why don't you go get your stuff from the car?" Eren nodded, and Grisha tossed him the keys to the car.

"I'll help you," Levi stated curtly. Eren was about to protest, but Levi was already out of his seat and half way to the front door. Damn that guy moved fast.

Eren quietly groaned, and followed after, only Eren took his time. By the time he got outside, Levi was already leaning against the car and looking like he wanted to do more than just help Eren. Levi scowled.

"What is your problem?" Eren faltered on his trip down the porch steps.

"Excuse me?" Levi didn't miss a beat.

"You're not excused. Answer the question," he demanded.

"No." Eren continued towards the car, defiantly. He didn't have to answer shit. Levi narrowed his eyes.

"Do you know what you are to me?" he asked. Eren tried to ignore him and unlocked the car, grabbing his stuff from the back as Levi talked. "You are a shitty brat who's throwing a temper tantrum. It's obvious you don't want to get married, let alone to someone you didn't choose. Here's my advice though." When Eren finally had all of his stuff and shut the door, Levi pulled Eren down a bit by clutching his shirt so they were face to face. "Fucking get over it. There is not a damn thing you or I can do about it. So the sooner you realize that and stop acting like a fucking dick, the sooner we can all be happy and move the fuck on with our lives." Damn, how could such a midget be so intimidating?

Eren shook free of Levi's grasp, glaring straight into Levi's eyes.

"Just because I can't change anything, doesn't mean I'm going to be happy living with you." Turning on his heel, Eren headed for the front door with his stuff, Levi in hot pursuit. He was not going to let Eren have the last say like that. Only they were both stopped on the porch stairs as Grisha and Carlton waltzed out of the mansion.

"Alright, Eren! Got your stuff?" Eren nodded. "Okay, then I guess it's time I head off."

Eren froze.

"What?" What did he mean? His dad couldn't leave! Not with these strangers! "N-No, you can't leave." Eren reached a hand out in a futile attempt to grab hold of his dad in hopes that he wouldn't leave. Instead, Grisha only grabbed the keys from Eren's hands.

"I can't stay. This week isn't for me, it's for you." Of course, Eren knew that. He knew that Grisha would leave at some point. He knew that Grisha probably wouldn't even stay the first night. But that didn't stop Eren from wanting him to stay. He was the only familiar thing Eren had here. He didn't want to be left alone. Grisha gave Eren a pat on the head seeing as the two hadn't hugged since Eren was a child, since Eren found out what it really meant when Grisha talked about the arranged marriage. "I'll see you in a week, alright? Be good." Grisha smiled softly for his son, who was giving him the most pathetic look of abandonment he could.

It broke Grisha's heart. But there was nothing he could do but hope that everything would work out.

And with that, Eren watched as the only connection, the only familiar thing he had, drove away, leaving him standing on a stranger's porch with a suitcase and a backpack. He suddenly felt very alone despite the people standing around him. Gripping the handle of his suitcase harder, he refrained from giving into the urge to run after his father. He kept watching the car drive away even after the brick wall enclosing the area blocked the view of his father.

"Oi, brat. If you keep standing there any longer you'll catch a cold, and if you do, you're not allowed back in this house." Eren wanted to retort, he really did, but any witty or snarky reply he could have thought of had momentarily left with his father. He sighed dejectedly, pulling his suitcase towards the door. He only caught a glimpse of Levi's face, but, from what he saw, he could tell that his lack of response had thrown him off seeing as he wore an expression of confusion. If Eren was feeling slightly less down, he would have felt proud.

"So, I supposed you'd like to go to your room now," Carlton started, a nervous smile on his face. "Shall we show you?" Eren headed for the stairs.

"Up the stairs, to the right, first door on my right."

"Oh! Uh… Alright. I guess you remembered that part." Carlton was awkward. He didn't know how to handle Eren's change of mood. "Good night, then!" he called as Eren reached the top of the stairs. He said nothing back.

Reaching his room, Eren placed his suitcase and backpack next to the end of the bed. Ignoring the strange feeling that was growing even more, he pulled out his pajamas: some sweats and a t-shirt. He changed quickly and grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste. Eren paused on his journey to the bathroom, though.

That strange feeling was in the bathroom too.

He shook it off, forcing it down as he brushed his teeth. After spitting, Eren caught his reflection in the mirror. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Same messy hair, same green eyes, same half assed pajamas. The only difference was the setting.

Suddenly, that strange feeling was back, and Eren no longer wanted to be in that bathroom anymore. He left, turning off the light to both the bathroom and the bedroom, and climbed into bed. The darkness of the room only seemed to intensify the feeling Eren had.

For two hours, he tossed and turned, he couldn't get to sleep no matter how hard he tried. That feeling wouldn't go away. And even if the feeling was gone, the bed was surprisingly uncomfortable. He couldn't find a position he found relaxing. The sheets were scratchy, stiff, and seemed to wrap themselves around Eren to immobilize him.

When the clock next to the bed read 1:43am, Eren finally realized what the feeling he had was.

He didn't belong.

The room was foreign to him. This wasn't his home. This wasn't his bed.

Eren kicked the sheets off of him. He started to feel suffocated by them after his realization. The realization had made the feeling grow even stronger. Pulling his knees to his chest, he sat up, huddled on the bed and wanting to cry.

The room seemed to be closing in on him, like the very house knew he didn't belong here and was trying to force him out. And, oh, did he want to leave. Who was he to these people? These people of privilege and class. He was nothing more than a business transaction. Some common article to be used. Sure he came from money. His father was certainly well off, but he had chosen to keep Eren from that world. He never went to a private school. He wasn't raise in the spotlight. He wasn't taught how to act civilized in the polished way everyone else here acted.

Eren ran to the light switch. The dark seemed unbearable now. The light, though blinding him for a moment, kept the closing walls at bay. His gaze drifted to the bed. Would he be able to fall asleep now? Now that he knew what that crushing feeling was?

No. He needed something to comfort him. Something familiar.

Rushing to his backpack, Eren pulled out a notebook. It wasn't old. He'd bought it a couple weeks ago, but it was still something that wasn't from this mansion. The familiarity provided a little more comfort. But even with the added relief, Eren knew he'd never get back to sleep. So, he did the only thing he could do.

He picked one of the pencils he brought and began to write.

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><p><strong>Poor baby Eren…<strong>

**So, thank you to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it! And if you guys see ANY mistakes, PLEASE tell me. Or if you guys just liked the chapter then tell me that too! :D**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


	3. Up, Up, and Away From The Problem

**WOAH! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! Oh, it's a random chapter. Don't ask me why, I just really wanted to upload another chapter this week. And don't worry, the Monday updates will continue as planned. So look forward to Chapter 4 in a few days :D**

**So enjoy this random act of kindness… And get reading! ;D**

**Like usual, I own none of the characters blah, blah, blah…**

**_ALSO_ There might be some problems with the page break that just so happens to be in the middle of the chapter (you couldn't have had problems with the page breaks that didn't matter, could you ff.n?). It may show up, it may not... I don't know yet. So keep an eye out for that.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: Up, Up and Away From The Problem<strong>

Eren managed to get no sleep that night. Though, he did fill quite a number of pages in his notebook. It turns out trying to ignore the closing of the walls and suffocation was a really good motivator. He managed to tune everything else out so well that he almost didn't hear the knocking at his door when 8:30 am came.

_Knock, knock_

"Eren?" Is that how he wants to word that sentence? That seems like a really weird way to word it. Wait, did he hear something?

_Knock, knock_

"Eren!" Oh, hey. He did.

A wave of exhaustion engulfed him now that his concentration had been broken.

"Uhm…. Yeah?" he replied after a moment of yawning. At least the exhaustion made him sound like he'd just woken up.

"It's me, Carlton. You know, your future father-in-law." Ugh… Please, don't remind him. Carlton laughed a bit at his own joke. "Breakfast will be ready soon. The chefs made all sorts of delicious food-"

"Wait, wait, wait. Breakfast?" Eren stood and opened the door. A casually dressed Carlton was revealed. Like, really casually dressed. Like, jeans-and-a-Green-Bay-Packers-football-jersey casual. Of all the things Eren expected to see this was not one of them. He raised his eyebrows slightly but said nothing. Shaking it off, Eren continued to the real problem at hand. "What do you mean breakfast? I thought I only had to eat lunch and dinner with you guys."

"I know, but it's Sunday, and I thought we could all have breakfast together. Maybe start a Sunday breakfast tradition?" his pleaded sheepishly. There was something about his smile and the way he acted that reminded Eren of one of those typical dads. He even had the bad jokes to boot.

And, it was that something that made Eren simply unable to refuse him. He sighed in defeat.

"Fine… I'll be down shortly." Carlton nodded happily.

"Gre-"

"Wait." Eren held up a hand as a thought came to him. "Am I going to have to go to church, too, or something?" Carlton chuckled.

"No, no. We, as a family, like to practice our faith quietly, at home and on our own terms. Actually going to church is far too public, and I'm pretty sure Levi doesn't care much for religion in general." Carlton shrugged. "I'm not particularly sure. I've never actually asked him. But, no we won't drag you to church." And he was gone.

Eren breathed a sigh of relief. It's not like he wasn't religious, he kind of was, he just didn't care much for going to church or actively praying with others, especially with these people. He thought just believing in God was good enough. But now he should focus his energy on getting ready.

Eren glanced out the window, noting that it was sunny today. His phone said it was going to be warm today as well. That was a plus. So, Eren changed into some jeans and a t-shirt. He mentally prepared himself to meet Levi as he headed down to the dining room. Knowing himself, and what he knew of Levi, there was bound to be friction and Eren would not lose this battle.

The smell of breakfast hit Eren upon walking into the dining room, though there was, so far, no food on the table. He also noticed that a place had been set right next to Levi, just like in last night's arrangement. Groaning inwardly, he carefully chose the seat across from Levi instead, despite there not being a plate and silverware there. Carlton, who was sitting at the head of the table this time, noticed.

"Eren, why don't you sit next to Levi?" he asked innocently. "He put a plate there just for you." Eren's jaw dropped open. He hadn't expected that.

"O-oh? Um…"

"Yes, Eren," Levi spoke up. He looked hurt by Eren's decision, but Eren could tell he was faking it. "Why don't you sit next to me?" Leaning on one hand elegantly, Levi smirked at Eren, who was inwardly screaming. He couldn't think of an excuse quick enough. And now, Levi, still smirking gleefully, was patting the back of the chair next to him expectantly. But Eren would not give up. He would sail through this storm!

"I… don't like sitting next to people first thing in the morning." Great. Way to sink your own ship there.

Both Voclains raised an eyebrow. Eren bit his lip, knowing they wanted an explanation.

"Well, you see… I haven't brushed my teeth or… you know, taken a shower yet so I, uh, feel… gross." Levi kept his brow raised, even more confused than before, but Carlton ah'd in understanding.

"I get it. Levi's the exact same way, actually!" Dropping the confused face, Levi glared at his father, aghast. Eren leaned forward towards Carlton, quickly becoming very interested in what he was saying. "He is an unbelievably clean person. He refuses to let any of the maids clean his room, claims they don't do it right." Carlton laughed heartily, and Eren found himself chuckling along. "In fact, he even likes to clean. He has since he was a child."

"Oh really?" Eren smirked, turning his attention to Levi now. "Is that true Levi?" Levi's only response was a subtle, yet deadly, glare that threatened to burn all of Eren's belongings if he even dared to use that against him. But with Eren being, well, Eren, he paid no attention, too giddy about gaining this new information.

"I was actually surprised when Levi wanted you to sit next to him this morning. Not only does he hate all things dirty, but he's not a people person. He'll put on a show for company and business partners, sure, but the truth is that he's very much a recluse." Carlton laughed again.

"I never would have guessed," Eren laughed along, although his was much dryer than Carlton's.

"Father," Levi intervened quickly, never once taking his eyes off Eren. "The chefs seem to be taking a while. Why don't you go check and see where our food is?" Carlton smiled and winked conspicuously at Levi.

"Alright, I'll go _see_ what's taking the chefs so long."

Eren watched as he left, but when he turned around Levi's subtle glare grew in intensity and the older man had a finger pointing towards him.

"Do not," Levi started before Eren could react, "even _think_ about it." Each word was carefully enunciated. "I know exactly what you are thinking, and, I swear to God, if you try to pull any of that shit, I will have you thrown out of this house and you will have to live in the shed out back for the rest of your life."

Eren brushed the threat off. "I don't know what you're talking about." Besides, he just found great ammo to use against Levi! Why wouldn't he?

"Seriously," Levi persisted. "If you value your life, do not even try." There was a pause as he lowered his hand and his glare disappeared. He stared down at the table. "Please… Just. Don't."

Eren gaped. There was a slight pleading tone in Levi's voice at the end. Was dirt really that bad a problem for him? He didn't have time to think about it as Carlton had come back. Levi acted like nothing happened so Eren did the same.

"What would you like to drink, Eren? We have milk, water, orange juice, tea, coffee-"

"Coffee, please!" Carlton nodded and disappeared into the kitchen for a moment before coming back with two mugs and a tea cup. Levi got the tea cup while Carlton placed a mug in front of Eren and his own plate. He held up a small sugar dish.

"Sugar or cream?" Eren shook his head, cradling the warm mug in his hands.

"No thanks." Eren turned his attention back to the ominous looking black liquid. He really didn't like coffee. It was too bitter for him, but he was far too tired from lack of sleep to not need some type of caffeine in him. It smelled rich and the tiniest bit appetizing. Eren hoped that maybe, in his state of drowsiness, the coffee wouldn't taste like shit and took one big gulp.

Nope.

It took everything Eren had to not spit out the vile liquid. It was disgustingly bitter. After forcefully swallowing the liquid shit, Eren started to reconsider his refusal of sugar. Carlton noticed.

"Trying to get used to drinking it black, huh?" Eren nodded eagerly, glad that he didn't have to think of an excuse.

"Yeah, but I don't think I'm ready for that just yet." He reached for the sugar, and even though it didn't help too much, it was still a better than before.

The smell of the food came before the actual food, and it smelled just as heavenly as last night. It was as an array of biscuits, gravy, bacon, sausage, eggs, and hash browns. It looked like heaven to Eren. Being rich had its upsides…

That is… until he remembered he had no plate… and that he would have to ask Levi to hand it to him.

"Uh, Levi?" Levi paused in the middle of reaching for a biscuit, fairly annoyed.

"Can you pass me my plate?" Levi smirked.

"Can you ask nicely?" he asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. Eren glared, but bit his cheek and toughed it out. Levi's father was here and it was apparently an unspoken rule in their war to keep their battles hidden from him if Levi's outburst only minutes ago was anything to go by. Eren didn't know if there was a legit reason for keeping it from Carlton or if it just made the fights more challenging and appealing to Levi. Either way, Eren didn't really like the idea of Carlton finding out either.

"Can you pass me my plate, please?" he ground out. Levi's smirk only became even more gleeful.

"I _can_." The fucker was using grammar against him! Eren wanted to strangle him. No one besides English teachers gave a fuck if it was 'can' or 'may'!

"May you please pass me my plate?" The anger was much harder to keep out this time around.

"There, now was that so hard?" If Levi showed more emotion than he let on, he'd be grinning from ear to ear. There was nothing he enjoyed more this morning than seeing Eren become flustered. He held out the plate to Eren, who hastily snatched it up.

Now that everyone had their plates, conversation died. In exchange, they filled up their plates and ate.

Eren savored every bite. Just like dinner last night, breakfast was delectable. The flavor was unbeatable save for a home cooked meal from his mother. Eren forced down the feelings of homesickness and tried to focus solely on the food.

"So, Eren," Carlton started. Eren paused mid-bite. Oh crap. Whatever was going to come after that couldn't be good. "How did you sleep last night?" Oh. That he could do. However, just as Eren was about to spout out a lie, a thought came to him.

What if he told them the truth?

He didn't have to lie to them. They were going to be his future family after all. Maybe they could even help him.

Looking up, Eren's gaze met Levi's, and he remembered why he couldn't.

_I don't want to see your ill-bred ass…_

_I don't know if this bratty act of yours is just some way to get out of the marriage…_

First of all, the feeling that kept him awake came from not fitting in. What could they do to help? Become poor?

Then there was what Levi had brought up at dinner. It was obvious to everyone involved that the last thing Eren wanted to do was take part in this whole situation. If they heard him complaining after only the first night about how he can't sleep in the mansion, they'd only think he was making excuses. His dad especially would be convinced that it was all made up and probably find some way to make him stay longer as a punishment.

And, of course, Eren couldn't forget about the war. Telling Levi a weakness, no matter how small, would only be giving him ammunition. That was one thing he did not want Levi to laugh at or insult him for. His feeling was bad enough without the extra fuel for the fire.

"Fine," he lied. "The bed was really soft." Eren shut himself off after that so the rest of breakfast played out in an awkward silence.

After breakfast, Eren wandered, unsure what to do.

His dad had forbidden him from bringing any movies or video games. Grisha even went so far as to confiscate Eren's laptop. By "no movies or video games" he also meant no Netflix or computer games. The only entertainment device he was allowed was his phone, and even that was fought hard over.

But the question wasn't just about what he could do, but where he could do it. When breakfast ended, Carlton told Eren that he couldn't just spend all day in his room, so that was ruled out. The kitchen was too noisy, the party room was too empty and quiet, the family and living rooms were too public, and the music room was… well, a music room. Eren, with no considerable talent for music, had no place in a room like that.

Just as the thought of hiding in one of the guest bedrooms crossed his mind, he remembered that he hadn't explored the backyard yet. So, with his only entertainment at his side, a notebook, a pencil, and a phone, Eren stumbled his way outside. The weight of the feeling that pressed itself against Eren's shoulders, trying to pin him down, lifted as he left the house, the fresh, spring air making him feel even lighter.

He might like it out here.

But while Eren was perfectly happy spending his time outdoors, Levi was another matter entirely.

Levi groaned as he lounged on his bed, his arm covered his eyes. How on Earth was he going to spend a week with this brat? He was always shooting of insults and starting battles with Levi. Sometimes over the littlest things. Levi wasn't going to say that it wasn't amusing, in some cases fun regardless of the fact that Eren seemed to take them so seriously, and he certainly wasn't going to say that Eren was the only one to blame for the fights, but he honestly wondered how the boy managed to have the energy to fight nearly every time they met.

Levi knew he wasn't exactly the most approachable person, in fact he was an asshole to almost everyone who wasn't a business associate, close friend, or family member, but this boy seemed to find something rude to say about everything he did.

He'd thought about Eren's possible reasons a lot, and he still thought that the most likely reason was Eren's hatred for the arranged marriage mixed with most people's natural reaction to seeing who Levi really was, aside from him just being a brat. But, what if there was a logical reason as to why Eren acted the way he did? Unlikely, but not something he could rule out.

Eren was his intended. They were going to be married, that was not going to change unless their fathers stopped being friends or, for whatever extremely unlikely reason, an agreement could not be made during the final stages. And Levi had come to terms with that idea a long time ago. So, Levi needed to find at least one thing he could tolerate about Eren, if not something he actually liked, so the next 60 years of his life wouldn't be absolute hell.

Levi gave a hefty sigh, then there was a knock at his door.

"Come in," he called lazily. It was his father. Carlton shuffled into his son's room slowly.

"Levi, I told Eren he couldn't spend the whole day in his room, and that means neither can you." Levi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "You two can't get to know each other while closing yourselves off in different rooms."

"Last I saw, Eren didn't seem like he wanted to "get to know" anyone this morning. I'll go find him for lunch and then we can spend time together." Though Levi couldn't see it, Carlton frowned at the answer.

"You two can't avoid each other all week, you know."

"I know."

"At some point you two will have to interact for more than just lunch and dinner."

"I _know_," Levi stressed, removing his arm to look at his father. "I'm just asking for one morning to give him some space." The arm was replaced. "He just got here for God's sake. Give him some fucking room."

"Language," was all Carlton said before leaving. Fucking finally. Levi resumed his musings about Eren until his phone rang not five minutes later. He didn't even bother to check the caller id before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Levi!" Levi groaned softly.

"God, Erwin, you sound way too fucking happy this morning. Finally got over your constipation?" Erwin chuckled.

"No, Levi. I don't believe I was ever constipated to begin with. I'm just excited to hear about your betrothed."

"Fuck you." God how Levi wanted to throw his phone at the wall. He did not need Erwin snooping through and trying to get information about Eren, or worse, trying to visit to meet him. If it was just Erwin, maybe it would be fine, but if Erwin came, then that meant Hanji would demand to come over, then before he knew it all of his coworkers and friends would be over here bombarding both Eren and Levi will questions.

"You can't blame me-"

"Yes, yes I most certainly can."

"-You haven't told us anything about him. Only that he was a guy."

"Well it's not like I fucking knew anything about him. I met him yesterday, for fuck's sake."

"And…?" There was a pause.

"And, what?"

"What's he like?"

"What are we, a couple of teenage girls gushing over a new boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"Damn it, Erwin!"

"I'm not the only one who wants to know. Hanji's here-"

"Oh, of course she fucking is."

"Leeviii~!" Hanji's sang.

"Go away," was Levi's blunt response.

"But Levi! I want to know! What's he like? Is he cute? Handsome? Oh! Is he taller or shorter than you? Do you know what his favorite sex position is?" Levi shot up, horrified.

"Hanji! What the fuck?! How the fuck would I know something like that?!"

"I don't know, maybe you two really hit it off when you met." He could practically hear her shrugging over the phone. He sighed.

"Not really. It was pretty much the opposite, actually." Of fuck. Levi slapped a hand over his mouth, knowing that it wouldn't take back his words, but hoping for it nonetheless.

"What?! Really?! Details, Levi! I need details!" Hanji screamed into the phone.

"Hah, you shouldn't have said that Levi. Now she'll never shut up," Erwin laughed.

"She wasn't going to shut up in the first place," Levi growled.

"Oh, come on! You can't leave me hanging after that! What happened?!" Levi gave in.

"Nothing, really. He just keeps acting like a fucking brat."

"Oh? How so?"

"He'll try and pick fights with me for no fucking reason and blatantly ignores everything I say just to push my buttons. It's like he's trying to get on my bad side and make me kill him. He's rude, he has no manners, he eats like a fucking pig. I bet he's messy as fuck too. My father just had to go and tell him I hate things being dirty and, fuck, his fucking face after he heard that… I just know he's going to do something. He makes it obvious that he doesn't want to be here and he doesn't want to be in this arranged marriage and then turns around and has the fucking nerve to use idea that he's my "fiancé" against me. He's fucking-"

"Levi."

It was only after Erwin called his name that he realized what he was doing. He was fucking ranting about some brat he met yesterday. He sighed and held his face in his free hand.

"Ah, fuck." Hanji giggled.

"Sounds like you two are a perfect match!"

"Yeah, a perfect match from hell," Levi mumbled.

"I say give him a chance," Erwin chimed in. "Be nice to him, give him some time, let him have his space."

"That is a lot easier said than done. Especially when you have your father commanding you to spend every waking moment with him and you don't even know why he's so fucking angry."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"I'm thinking it's probably just the spite from the arranged marriage that he's feeling… That along with my less than welcoming personality. But…" Levi trailed off.

"…It could be something else. Like maybe that's just the way he usually is, or he has trust issues or something," Erwin continued for him.

"Exactly."

"If you want my advice," Hanji began.

"I don't but you're going to give it to me anyway."

"Then don't do anything."

There was a pause before both males in the conversation replied at almost the same time:

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah!" Hanji went straight into explaining. "You're pretty much smitten with him already!" Well that explained nothing.

"Excuse me? Did you not just hear me ranting about the brat?" Levi asked, incredulous.

"I think I see where she's coming from…" Erwin contributed thoughtfully.

"Not you too Erwin. You've been spending way too much time with that escaped mental patient over there." Erwin sighed.

"Well, think of it this way. You only met him yesterday, and yet you already have such a strong feeling about him."

"I have a strong feeling about hating him."

"You know what they say, Levi! There's a thin line between hate and love!" Hanji declared.

"There's also a thin line between genius and insanity. Unfortunately, you never had the genius side of that line," Levi retorted.

"So when do we get to meet him? I bet he's adorable! Is he adorable? Lev-"

Levi hung up. He had reach the maximum capacity he had to deal with Hanji at that moment. Tossing his phone on his bed, he stood up and stretched. Walking to the window, he found that Eren was in the back garden. Levi tilted his head, now standing right in front of the mirror, and contemplated Eren.

He was smiling.

That was the first thing Levi noticed. Of all the faces he'd seen Eren make up to that point, he'd never really seen him actually smile. Levi realized that Eren actually looked good when he smiled. Almost cute, even.

Eren was walking through the garden, taking in the sights of all the flowers, decorations, and trees the place had to offer. He had a notebook and pencil in hand as well. Was he a writer? Maybe he liked to doodle. Or maybe he had homework he had to work on over break.

Nah, Eren didn't seem like the type to do his homework so early on.

Levi watched as Eren knelt down next to one of the blooming flowers. He leaned forward curiously, wondered what Eren would do next. Eren cradled the flower in one of his hands, and a butterfly popped out. Eren's smile grew larger as he watched the butterfly flutter away, unaware that he was also being watched. Levi felt his heart flutter like the butterfly the tiniest bit.

Eren continued through the garden until reaching one of the large trees just outside of the garden. After studying the tree, Eren bit down on his notebook and pencil (Levi reminded himself to never touch that notebook or pencil) and started to climb.

Levi's eyes widened, impressed. Since there were no low hanging branches, Eren had to rely solely on the rough bark as leverage. But, even so, Eren managed to climb the bark until he reached the first branch. He continued to climb until he reach what he deemed to be a nice, thick, sturdy branch. Then, he took his notebook and pencil out from his mouth, opened the notebook, and began to write in the notebook.

While watching all of this, Levi thought through everything he'd observed about Eren since he met him. The over-casualness of his dress and manners. His abrasive personality. His inability to back down from a fight. His need to retaliate to any insult or wrong doing against him. His determined attitude. His recklessness. This gentleness he seemed to possess. His skill in climbing. His joy of writing whatever he wrote in his notebook. His naturally, lightly tanned skin. His ocean green eyes. His soft looking, dark brown, and ruffled hair.

His smile.

Levi thought through it carefully and decided that he was not smitten. He was not in love with Eren Jaeger.

But…

Levi smiled softly as the rays of sunlight flitted through the newly grown, baby green leaves and danced across Eren, illuminating his skin, his eyes, his hair, his smile.

…Perhaps in the future, if Eren stopped acting like a brat, he might be.

* * *

><p>Eren lounged in the tree, his tree. He claimed this tree as his own. It was Eren's tree. And it shall be called… "Eren's Tree." Very creative.<p>

His notebook lay open in his lap, and he held on to his pencil as lightly as he could without it falling from his grasp and to the ground. His head lolled to the side, one of his legs swaying lazily, as his eyes took in the sights of the garden below.

It was truly magnificent. Stone pathways wove in between patches of flowers and bushes. Small trees were plotted here and there throughout, as were decorations like metal sculptures, vine and flower archways, and manmade ponds and fountains. Towards the back of the garden was even an enclosed glass gazebo, much like the one from The Sound of Music Eren noticed.

It had been about three hours since he came out here. He knew because he'd brought his phone with him too, and it really helped. Especially after hitting writer's block like he so often did. He really wasn't sure what he would do without his smart phone.

But, in those three hours, Eren had felt the most at peace since he came here. Not only was it absolutely gorgeous out, but any bad or strange feelings he had while inside the mansion had disappeared. And for those three hours, he remained blissfully unbothered sitting in his tree, sitting in Eren's Tree.

Then came 12:30… or 1… It was somewhere around there. But that time brought with it someone Eren believed to be very unwelcome.

"Oi." Eren purposefully avoided looking at Levi, and refused to respond to him. "Oi, brat." Still no response. "Fucking hell, brat! Wake up, I'm talking to you!"

Finally, with a heavy sigh, Eren dropped his gaze to Levi.

"What do you want?" Levi glared.

"Fucking finally," he breathed, probably not necessarily intending for Eren to hear. "Lunch is ready, get your ass down here." Eren contemplated Levi's words for a moment.

"No," he said, shaking his head. Levi's brow rose in disbelief.

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused," Eren snickered, facing away from Levi and closing his eyes.

"You aren't not going to go to lunch."

"I think I am."

"That's not your decision." Eren opened his eyes briefly so that he could roll them. "I'm serious, brat."

"But it's your decision?" He asked.

"No, it's not." Levi clarified. "Us having lunch and dinner together is not our fucking choice. That was the only thing our fathers insisted upon when it was decided you'd stay here, and, guess what, they're going to be pretty fucking pissed when they learn you're refusing to go." He tried to keep his cool, but Eren proved that to be more of a challenge than he thought.

"You know, I'm finding that I really don't care."

"Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Levi cracked a bit. Eren shifted his attention back to Levi, curious.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"What do I mean?" Levi gestured to Eren. "This whole I-fucking-hate-everything-in-the-world attitude you've had going on since you first fucking showed up!" Levi took a deep breath. Yelling at him won't help.

"And why should I tell you?" Eren questioned tauntingly, though traces of actual curiosity peeked through.

"Well, to take a page from your poorly written book, as your fiancé, shouldn't I have the right to know why the fuck you're such a goddamn brat?" Eren snorted.

"Yeah, and, to take a page from your stupid book, we're technically not engaged yet, and so, therefore, you are not my fiancé." He pointed an accusing finger at Levi. "So you can't use that card against me."

"Didn't stop your ass from trying, and it sure as hell is not going to stop me," Levi scoffed. There was a moment of silence between the two as Eren decided what to say next.

"You know, Levi, if you really want to know anything about me, maybe you should get rid of your piss poor personality first." Levi feigned a look of hurt.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he drawled in a fake remorseful tone. "I didn't realize yours was any better." He changed back to his annoyed look. "Just get your shitty ass down here before my father decides to get involved. We've spent too much time arguing already."

"No."

"Brat."

"No."

"I'm not fucking kidding."

"Neither am I. No. I'm not going to come down no matter what you say."

"Fucking brat, if you don't get your fucking ass down here I swear to fucking god…"

"What? What are you going to do? Climb up here and drag me down?" Eren's hand flew to cover his mouth in mock shock and his smirk. "Oh, wait, can you not climb up here? Is it that you can't or that you just don't want to get dirty?" Eren's smirk only grew. "Or maybe it's because you're just too short."

He really shouldn't have said that, but the idea that Levi couldn't get him at the moment gave him courage… and stupidity. Levi would get him back for that comment, because that comment had pissed. him. off. So much so that if Eren looked closely, he could almost see the waves of anger emanating off of Levi.

"Fuck you," Levi ground out after a moment. "You can stay up there for the rest of your pathetic life for all I care. Just don't blame me when everything goes to shit. And don't expect me to cover for you. You're on your own, brat."

"Good, I don't want your help!"

"Good!"

"Fucking leave already!"

"I am!"

"Good!"

Levi stormed back inside, sufficiently pissed off. He slumped into his seat in the dining room, and his father gave an inquisitive look. Levi sent back a harsh glare.

"If you want that brat to join us, then you're going to have to pluck him from the tree yourself," he explained before Carlton could ask.

Carlton let out an irritated sigh, clearly displeased with Eren's actions. He pushed himself up and away from the table and set his course for the tree that Eren was currently residing in.

After their argument, Eren had decided to climb even higher. He didn't like the branch he was currently resting on, as it was thinner and less sturdy, but he no longer felt comfortable sitting so low in his tree. The lower he was, the easier it was for others to reach him. He had brought his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, staring at nothing in particular.

"Eren," a calming, yet firm, voice called. Eren knew it was Carlton, and faced towards him, much more emotionless than before. "Please, come down and join us for lunch. We would greatly appreciate it."

See? Now that was how you asked someone to lunch. Take notes, Levi. Still, it was not enough.

"No, thank you."

"Eren, when you came here, it was agreed that you would have lunch and dinner with us every day. Other than that you are completely free to do what you want on your own time. When you think about it, we're really not asking for much." Carlton tried to say this as nicely as he could, hoping kindness would coax Eren out of the tree.

"I know. But… I just… I really just want to be left alone for right now." Eren rubbed his arms and looked away. Carlton spent a few moments to consider his options.

"I'm going to let you off this hook this time only because you had breakfast with us, but you will have dinner with us tonight, no exceptions. That goes for the rest of the week as well, understood?" His tone left no room for debate.

Eren nodded, letting out a quiet affirmative reply, and Carlton left, leaving Eren to curl in on himself even more.

The garden didn't seem quite as inviting as it had before.

* * *

><p><strong>So someone's starting to feel something and someone… is just the same as he always is damn it Eren… You're just unwillingly signing your life away to some stranger asshole in a house that gives you the creeps! Get over it!<strong>

**Like always, feel free to tell me your thoughts, your complaints, your hate (though I'll probably just ignore that), and whatever else you think I need to know about this chapter or the story! :D**

**I hope you enjoyed!**

**BTW I do in fact have a TUMBLR if any of you care. The link is on my profile so feel free to follow me. I might post news about my stories there every now and then. Woohoo!**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


	4. Visitors in Prison? Yes Please!

**Alright, back to the regularly scheduled updates! … UGH WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE MONDAY?! I have to go to class… Oh well. Hopefully I'll have better luck with those damn page breaks this time.**

**As you well know, I don't own the characters so don't sue me.**

**Now get reading! :D**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Visitors in Prison? Yes Please!<strong>

Hours passed, and soon, the sun began to disappear behind the taller trees in the distance. Hues of red swam through the sky and clouds. Shadows stretched, and wind blew, bringing along the cold with them. Eren shivered involuntarily.

He never left the safety of his tree, spending most of his time writing and playing games on his phone. It would be a lie to say he never moved, because he eventually dropped back down to his original branch. After Carlton left, no one else had bothered Eren, so his feelings from inside the mansion returned to the mansion, and the garden became a safe haven once more. There was no more reason for him to be so far up. Plus the original branch was more appealing than the one further up.

Eren pulled out his phone, noting that it was now 7:26pm. Someone would be out soon to take him to dinner, and he could only hope that this time it wouldn't be Levi. He didn't want to go to lunch earlier to begin with, but after Levi's attitude, he definitely didn't want to go. And that got him in trouble. Sure there were no real consequences from it, but if he acted like that again, he was positive that Carlton wouldn't be so light with him.

The sound of footsteps alerted Eren to the newcomer's presence. Without looking he closed his eyes. Eren prayed as hard as he could that whoever had come to get him wouldn't be Levi.

"Oi." Fuck. Eren opened his eyes and turned towards Levi, expecting one of his glares. He was shocked to find that Levi wasn't wearing a glare. In fact, he looked rather drained. "We would be very grateful if you could join us for dinner."

Dear God… That was… civil. Since when was Levi ever civil with Eren?

It was only when Levi gave him a questioning look that Eren realized he'd had his mouth hanging open.

"Uh… Yeah, sure…" Eren probably would have talked back, but the politeness Levi showed him threw him off. He grabbed his notebook and pencil and proceeded to slide down from branch to branch until he reached the lowest branch. From there he decided jumping would be the easiest way down. It wasn't too far.

Bracing himself for impact, Eren threw himself from the branch, keeping his knees bent. His feet hit the ground, and he rolled forward from the momentum but caught himself with his hands. Pushing up from the ground, Eren brushed himself off and noticed how a flash of alarm had cut across his usual mask for a moment.

"What?" he asked. Levi shook his head.

"You're just a reckless brat, is all," he responded, and with that, he headed for the back door to the mansion. Eren jogged after him.

"Hey! I resent that!" he called out.

"I bet you do," Levi jeered. Eren glared.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" he questioned, having finally caught up with him.

"If you don't get it then I'm not explaining."

"No, really, what do you mean?"

"No, really, I'm not explaining."

"Why the hell not?!" Eren yelled. What was this guy's problem? Levi stopped dead in his tracks, and twisted around.

"Jesus Christ, calm down!" he shouted, though it lacked any real venom. "I said it because you resent everything! Okay?"

"What?" Eren shook his head. "I don't resent everything!" Levi snorted.

"Let me guess, you resent that?" He resumed his walk back to the mansion, leaving a sputtering Eren to catch up.

"Wha- I… Huh…? Was… was that a joke?" he asked in suspicious shock.

"Yes, in fact, it was."

Eren still hadn't moved. Levi made a joke. It was like seeing a lion turn down a steak. Levi doesn't make jokes. Then again, how would Eren know? He'd known him for 24 hours. Really, he didn't know anything about Levi.

After a moment, Eren finally said, "I don't get you." Levi stopped, yet again, and slowly faced Eren.

"And I don't get you." There was nothing insulting about how Levi replied. Only curiosity. "You seem to think that everyone here is going to attack you. You get pissed off at the tiniest provocation. Why is that?" Levi crossed his arms, awaiting an answer.

Eren blushed, upset that Levi was delving into something personal and furious at himself that he didn't have an answer.

"I… That's none of your business…" he stammered. Eren pushed past Levi, who had been blocking the path, and didn't look back. The conversation was officially over.

Levi could have pushed more, questioned Eren further, but that would only result in yet another fight. And, with an hour of being forced to sit together in the same room, a fight sounded like a very bad idea.

* * *

><p>Dinner ended without any real problems. The silence was so obviously awkward, though, that it made the silence even more awkward. Still, there was no fighting between Eren and Levi. Eren was too busy trying to avoid answering Levi's question, while Levi was busy trying not to start a fight for the sake of dinner and figuring out how to get an answer out of Eren.<p>

After dinner, Eren retreated back to his room. His thoughts were plagued by what Levi had said.

Eren would have liked to say that he knew exactly what the answer was, but to be honest, he really didn't understand the question. Was that really the impression everyone here had of him? It made sense. He wasn't exactly friendly towards anyone around here.

_Why is that?_

Eren shook his head free of those thoughts. He didn't want to think about that anymore, and he wouldn't admit that it was because he was scared of what the answer might be.

But whatever the answer was, it wasn't his fault. It wasn't because of him. Of that he was sure.

His phone buzzed, completely dragging him away from his thoughts. It was a call from Armin. He answered it quickly.

"Armin?"

"Yup! It's me buddy!" Eren nearly fainted with relief. It was so nice to hear from someone who wasn't his dad or a Voclain.

"Oh fuck, thank God…"

Armin laughed. "What's with that? Were you expecting Satan to call?"

"More like expecting him to barge in through the door…" Eren moaned.

"That bad?" Armin said sympathetically.

"You have no idea… So what's up?"

"Well," Armin drawled dramatically. "I was wondering if you were allowed visitors in jail." Eren froze.

"What? Really? Wait, when would you…"

"Tomorrow, right before we leave." Eren didn't know what to say. Thankfully, Armin didn't waste time in waiting for him to find his voice. "We thought it would be a good idea to visit."

"Wait… We? As in, everyone would visit?"

"Yeah. I know the information isn't public yet, but now that you know, then you can let your friends know right?"

"Hold on, I'm going to call you back."

With that Eren quickly hung up the phone and practically sprinted out of his room and down the stairs. Determination flared throughout his body.

He might be able to have friends over.

He might be able to have all his friends over.

He might be able to finally tell his friends what he'd kept secret from them his whole life!

Carlton was in the family room watching reruns of old football games (apparently, he liked watching football on Sundays regardless of whether it was football season or not). Upon seeing him, Eren quickly slowed to a stop, all of his nerves were racing.

What would he say? Would he outright say no? Would he tell him to ask his dad? God, he couldn't ask his dad. That would give him a definite no. Just to be sure he wouldn't catch Carlton at a bad time, Eren waited until there was a commercial.

"Um… Carlton?" It still felt really weird to refer to him by his first name. Carlton quickly turned in his seat. He was shocked at first but then joyful.

"Eren! How nice to see you. Have you come to watch the game with me? Or, no, you look like you just threw a baseball into one of the windows." Carlton's tone was supposed to be humorous, but it didn't make Eren feel any less nervous. "So what is it?"

"Uh… I have a question…. To ask…"

Carlton chuckled. "Well, then ask."

"Is it alright if I… Is it possible… Could I maybe… invite some friends over?" The smile fell from Carlton's lips as he stared thoughtfully at Eren.

"Friends, huh? You remember that this week is for you and Levi to get to know each other right?" Oh man, he had one of those parent tones. The one where you knew they were just leading up to saying 'no'.

"Yes."

"And you know that having friends over would mean you wouldn't be spending as much time with Levi?" What was bad about that again?

"Yes."

"And you remember that you already spent most of this day avoiding everyone in this house?"

"… Yes."

"Do your friends know about this arrangement?"

"… No. Well, two know."

"And how many friends would be over?" Eren actually had to count how many friends he had. He'd never counted before, so when he realized how many he had, it made him not want to answer the question even more.

"… Eleven…" Carlton raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"And when would this be?"

"Tomorrow."

"I see… And, has your father agreed to this?" That was the one question he really didn't want to answer. Should he lie? If he lied, he was probably more likely to have his friends over. But, then if Carlton called to confirm… Eren shuddered at the thought. But if he told the truth, he was probably never going to get to see his friends.

It took everything he had to say, "… No."

Carlton sighed, and it looked like he was about to make a decision. Panicking, Eren quickly tried to defend his case.

"It would only be for a little while," he rushed. "They're leaving for a lake house tomorrow for spring break. They'll be there all week. I… actually would have gone too, but… I had to be here. And I promise they won't tell anyone! They're not the kind of people to do that. Especially if it's about one of their friends. And-" Eren cut himself off, realizing he was about to start rambling about things that wouldn't matter to Carlton. He sighed. "I just want to see my friends sometime this week."

"Would your father be okay with this?" Carlton chuckled when Eren bit his lip and looked away. "I'm guessing that's a no." Carlton crossed his arms over his chest with a hefty sigh. "Well, I'm going to be at work tomorrow, so it's not going to matter to me if you have friends over…" Carlton gave Eren a sly smile. That smile grew as he watched Eren's green eyes light up with the joy and excitement of a small child on Christmas. "But," Carlton interrupted, holding a finger up. "Levi will be here. So you need to ask him if it's alright."

That little piece of information did little to dampen the light in Eren's eyes. He only nodded vigorously.

"Yes! Alright! Thank you!" Eren ran over to Carlton and gave him a quick hug from behind the couch, grinning from ear to ear. With no time to lose, Eren dashed back up the stairs, feeling lighter than ever.

Carlton, on the other hand, stared at the spot where Eren had been standing only moments ago in stunned silence. Then, he let a small smile grace his face.

That was the first time he'd seen Eren actually smile.

* * *

><p>Eren raced up the stairs. It wasn't until he was just about to knock on Levi's door that he truly understood what it was he had to do.<p>

Eren's raised hand faltered as questions from before bombarded him. What would he say? Would he say no? He shook his head, his body filling once more with determination. He was so close to being able to see his friends, to tell his friends what was going on. He would not stumble here. So, he gathered his courage and knocked on the door.

Not ten seconds later, Levi answered, aloof as usual.

"Can I help you?" Don't say anything that will ruin your chances. Don't say anything that will ruin your chances. Just keep it short and to the point.

"Is it alright if I have friends over tomorrow?" Levi's face flinched with confusion.

"Friends?" Don't say anything. "Our fathers are allowing you to have friends over?" he asked, incredulous. Eren shrugged, but refused to look away. No matter how piercing Levi's stare was.

"I asked your dad, and he told me to ask you." Levi exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"They can come over tomorrow after lunch." Eren tensed up with excitement. "But don't bother me while they're here. Understood?" He nodded furiously.

"Understood. Thanks." And with that Eren retreated back into his room excitedly. Frantically calling Armin back to tell him the good news.

Levi scrutinized the door across the hall with narrowed and confused eyes.

"I really don't get you, Eren Jaeger."

* * *

><p>Once again, Eren couldn't sleep that night. He could feel certain effects start to take a hold of his body when morning finally came. Grogginess, the ability to focus, and even worse decision making skills were a few. They only showed up in small amounts though. Eren had spent too many nights pulling all-nighters on both last minute school projects and video games alike so he'd built up more of an immunity to the effects of sleep deprivation. Plus coffee and the constant feeling he had kept him awake and alert. Well… mostly alert.<p>

It worried him, though. He needed to find a solution quickly, because he was positive he wouldn't be able to spend the whole week sleep deprived. Couldn't sleep deprivation kill someone? Eren pushed that thought into the same corner where all the other thoughts he had about the mansion went.

There was no use in worrying about it now. At least that's what he told himself. He had guests coming over after all. And he was so excited that for a moment he didn't even care that he was marrying the world record for most amount of shit and sarcasm in a small object.

Finally, he could tell his friends everything. He wouldn't have to keep it hidden anymore. He was sure his dad was going to be pissed, but that was a problem he could deal with later. What was more important right now was that his friends were coming over! There would be no more secrets!

Anxiety gripped Eren.

How would he tell them? How would they take it? He'd kept this secret for so long… They were his friends. They had stood behind him no matter what. So they wouldn't hate him or abandon him because of this… right?

These were the thoughts that plagued him throughout the night and morning. Eren was left alone and bored with those thoughts too. Carlton had left early in the morning without so much as a goodbye, though it was probably because he thought Eren would still be asleep, and Levi hadn't even left his room. That left Eren to wander the house with his troublesome questions. He was almost glad for lunch when it finally came.

"Brat! It's fucking time for lunch! Get your ass down here!"

Well, he said almost didn't he?

Levi came stomping down the stairs as he yelled, looking sour indeed. Apparently, Mondays were still Mondays for the rich and famous.

Eren, who'd been lounging on one of the couches in the living room, rubbed his ears from Levi's shouting. "There's really no reason to yell, you know." Levi stopped.

"You left your room," he pointed out in surprised.

"Really? I thought this was my room." Eren rolled his eyes, sarcastically. Levi didn't comment, and continued to the dining room, sitting down in his usual seat. Eren did the same. "No, but seriously," Eren grumbled as he sat down. "Was it really necessary to be so fucking loud? My room isn't that far from the staircase." This time Levi rolled his eyes.

"The walls of this house are practically soundproof. I thought you were still in your room, therefore, I thought I needed to yell," Levi explained, curtly. Looks like his fuse was a tad short today.

"Well I wasn't," Eren replied, just as curt.

"Obviously."

They glared at each other in tense silence. Eren broke the silence as he felt his stomach constricting from lack of hunger.

"So… are we gonna tell the cooks or-"

"They know," Levi cut off. He pulled out his phone to show Eren the time. It was 11:55. "Lunch is at noon. It's not noon. Calm down."

"Well, excuse me for wondering," Eren said defensively.

"Oh, how I wish I could." Levi said it more to himself than to Eren, but Eren heard it anyway.

"Well, if you don't want to be around me so badly, why don't you just leave? Not allowed to eat in your room?"

A servant came out then, holding a tray of tea. She set the tray in front of Levi.

"Fucking finally," he muttered bitterly. Eren glared at him. How could he treat her so badly? But the servant looked unfazed. She turned to Eren.

"What would you like to drink?" she asked professionally.

"Coffee, please. With sugar," he replied, letting go of his harsh appearance so she didn't think he would treat her like Levi treated her. But even so, she remained unfazed. She left back to the kitchen, to get Eren's drink.

"Trust me," Levi started as soon as she was gone, taking a sip from his tea. "I would love to eat in my room and away from you, especially today, but, if we don't follow the "rules" then the servants are going to tell my father and we'll be in trouble. And I would rather not have to waste my time listening to that lecture."

"Gee, it's nice to know you like me so much."

"Guess whose fault that is."

The servant came back before Eren could comment, this time with his coffee and an array of sandwiches, fruit, and what looked like homemade potato chips. They were still warm.

The rest of lunch was silent. Eren found that silence while eating was one thing he and Levi could actually agree on. There were probably more things that they could agree on, but Eren sure as hell wasn't going to find out. He wanted as much distance from Levi as possible.

As Eren wiped his mouth with a napkin, one of the sandwiches had been fairly messy, he noticed Levi grimacing from across the table, but he chose not to comment. It was probably just because he was in a bad mood.

Levi finished off the last of his tea and stood.

"Your friends are coming over right?" Eren nodded.

"Yeah, they should be here soon."

"Good. You can do whatever you want, just don't disturb me, got it? I have a shit ton of work to get done for this week no thanks to you." Levi began to head for the stairs before Eren cut him off.

"Hey! You having work isn't my fucking fault!" he yelled.

"No, but the fact that you're here means that I won't be able to do any work for the next fucking week. And that's a pain in the ass." Levi tried to push past Eren, but Eren stood firm.

"Once again, that's not my fucking fault! What are you gonna do? Blame me because I was fucking born?" Levi stared with affronted astonishment.

"I'm not fucking- Fuck it!" He threw his hands in the air, forcibly shoving Eren out of the way. "Just have fun with your friends, and don't let me see you until dinner!" Levi hurried up the stairs, he'd had enough of Eren.

"I plan on it!" Eren shouted after him. "Fucking asshole…"

"I heard that!"

"Good!"

Eren fell back into his seat and let his head slam against the table.

Fuck Levi. Just fuck him. Eren was sure he was far worse than an asshole now. It's not his fault that he couldn't do his precious work so there was no need to blame him like that!

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and any negative feelings subsided for the moment. Hurrying, Eren pulled out his phone to see he had a message from Armin.

**Armin**: _Heyy, were just about to leave. Whats the address?_

Eren couldn't help the excitement building up inside him. It took him three tries to write down the address because he was so excited. He even almost let out what would have been a VERY manly squeal at the thought. He didn't care if Levi thought Eren was to blame for this whole week and was now throwing a tantrum up in his room about it. His friends were coming over and that's all that mattered at this point.

It would take about 15 or 20 minutes for them to get here, possibly longer if they all decided to leave separately. But that probably wasn't going to happen. Of the three people who had cars in their group, Reiner, Ymir, and Marco, only Marco had a usable GPS and while Armin, Mikasa, Berthold, Christa, and Annie were all fairly adept at giving directions, no one else was really all that adept at following directions. So, assuming that they would all leave at the same time after picking up Mikasa and just follow Marco that meant Eren had about 15 to 20 minutes left of lonely hell.

What would Eren do…?

…

Could he slide across the floor of the party room in his socks?

Over the next 20 minutes, Eren found out that yes, he could slide around the party room in his socks. He also found out that it was very easy to fall while sliding.

And it was extremely entertaining, thank you very much.

Eren's phone vibrated after 20 minutes, and he slide over, still in just his socks, to wear it laid on the floor of the otherwise empty room.

**Armin**: _Here! At least I think so… :P_

Eren tried to get to the door so fast, he forgot his shoes. He didn't get very far without them. The slippery marble led him straight into a wall. So he dashed back to his shoes and threw them on. As much as he wanted to see his friends, he really didn't care for walking out in only his socks. After finally getting shoes on his feet, Eren made once again for the door. The sight that greeted him did not disappoint him.

There was Reiner's black SUV, Ymir's bright red truck, Marco's powder blue Prius, and all of his friends with different expressions of shock and awe.

Eren fought back tears.

"Oh, thank GOD!" he cried, throwing himself at Armin and Mikasa. He pulled them into a tight hug. "You guys have NO idea how fucking happy I am to see you all! And yes, I'm even happy to see horseface over there!"

"Yeah!" Connie exclaimed. "Group hug!"

Sasha jumped up in joy and both made a leap for Eren, but both were held back by Reiner.

"Hold on, now," he said skeptically. "I think we all deserve an explanation."

"Yeah! What the hell's going on here?" Ymir nodded in agreement.

"And why the fuck are you in some fancy ass mansion instead of at some college camp crap?" Jean joined in, crossing his arms over his chest. Eren pushed Armin and Mikasa away and held them at arm's length, taking turns staring them in the eyes.

"You didn't tell them?" To be honest, Eren thought that Armin and Mikasa would tell everyone before coming here. The two wouldn't meet his gaze.

"W-Well," Armin offered. "We thought it was your secret to tell."

"Did you tell them anything?"

"We told them you weren't at college camp," said Mikasa. Eren's shoulders dropped.

"Thanks. I can always rely on you guys," he muttered sarcastically.

"If you wanted us to tell them then you should've told us!" Armin laughed nervously.

"So what's going on?" Berthold spoke up. Everyone nodded, just as curious.

Eren sighed. Now that the time was here to tell everyone, he was really nervous. It was probably best to keep this as short, sweet, and to-the-point as possible.

"Well, long story short, I'm the well-guarded secret heir to a multimillion dollar corporation and part of an even more well-guarded secret engagement to an asshole."

There was a long period of silence before they all yelled at the same time:

"What?!"

And then the questions came.

"You mean to tell us, that all this time you were super fucking rich?!"

"Yes."

"What the hell are you the heir of?"

"Jaeger Medical Corporation."

"You mean all those hospitals?"

"Yup."

"So when teacher's asked you-"

"Yeah, I lied."

"Do you have a bunch of lake houses and beach houses and mansions? Like Christa?"

"No."

"Wait, so you're the heir to a multimillion dollar corporation and you still didn't know who Christa was when you first met?"

"…Yes?" Eren wasn't entirely sure how to answer that one. Was it "yes he didn't know" or "no, he didn't know"? Eh, whatever.

"Does that mean you're going to take over the company after college?"

"Thank God, no."

"This explains why you always got really cool presents for Christmas and your birthday!"

"I guess?"

"So why was it secret?"

"To keep me out of the spotlight."

"Are you be able to access your dad's money in case you need to dispose of a body?"

"What?" What the fuck, Connie? Really?

"Hold on! Just, everybody hold the fuck up!" Jean screamed, and everyone stopped to look at him curiously. "Are we not going to discuss the fact that Eren just said he was fucking _engaged_?"

There was yet another long period of silence before…

"WHAT?!"

Apparently they hadn't heard that part.

"Yup. And the guy's a dick," Eren complained.

"It's a guy," Marco commented thoughtfully.

"So he's forced to swing that way, huh?" Connie stroked his imaginary beard.

"That means Connie and Armin are the only two straight dudes left in our circle of friends," Ymir pointed out. "You're outnumbered! Ahaha!"

"Who wants to bet that Armin turns gay next?" Reiner grinned.

"Well, it's gotta be Armin. I'm far too deep to pull out now." That earned Connie a hard smack from severely blushing girlfriend.

"Guys!" Armin held up his hands, silencing his friends' conversation about his possible future sexuality and Connie's terrible innuendoes. "Can we not? So who is it Eren?"

All emotion fell from Eren's face. The irony of the situation coming back full force now that Armin was here.

"Do you remember that conversation we had Friday?" he questioned in a monotone. Armin let out a dramatic gasp.

"No! You mean-"

"Yup," Eren nodded, cutting off his friend. "Only it was the smaller of the two evils." He held up his thumb and index finger and held them close together for emphasis. Armin covered his mouth with his hand. It was obvious that while he felt really bad for his friend, he found the irony absolutely hysterical at the same time. And now he was trying not to laugh and make his friend feel even worse.

"So you're marrying… that guy?" Christa spoke up in her soft voice. The group stared at her.

"You know who we're talking about?" Eren asked in disbelief.

"I've been here before for a business party and I met him once." She shrugged. "He seemed okay." Eren shook his head.

"He's not. Trust me, he's not."

"Who the hell is 'he'?"

Eren took in a deep breath and braced himself for the reaction. This was probably going to be worse than telling them he was secretly rich.

"Levi Voclain."

"ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME?!" was Jean's immediate response. "Why is it that JAEGER of all people had to hit the jackpot for life?!" Marco raised an eyebrow and stared coldly at his boyfriend. Jean was quick to apologize. "It's not like I'm not happy I have you, but… It's _Levi Voclain_! He's rich as fuck!"

"Heir to a multimillion dollar company and fiancé to the heir of a multibillion dollar company and cofounder of another multibillion dollar company." Ymir nodded her head slowly and grinned. "Nice."

"Dude, that's awesome!" Connie congratulated.

"The fuck it is!" Eren countered.

"How is that bad?"

"Well, for starters, he's an asshole," Eren listed, counting on his fingers for every point he made. "I'm going to have to live the rest of my life with him, he's an asshole, he's fucking famous meaning I'll have to deal with the media and shit, and did I mention that he's a fucking asshole of the highest fucking degree? This sucks! I hate him!"

"You're going to be a mega multibillionaire! So what if your significant other sucks?"

"Because I'm going to have to spend the rest of my fucking life with him!"

"Why are you marrying him if you don't like him?" Sasha tilted her head to the side in confusion as she asked.

"It wasn't my choice! It's an arranged marriage. My dad made a deal with his family before I was born, so it's not like I had a say in who I got to be tied to for life."

"I wouldn't mind if I got a bunch of money out of it."

"You would if your intended was Levi Voclain."

"Damn…" Berthold sighed, leaning back against the SUV. "This is a lot to take in."

"You're telling me. I didn't even know until Saturday!"

"So where is he now? Can we meet him?"

"Busy. He holed himself up in his room and told me not to let him see my face until dinner. So, no, you can't. Now can we do something that isn't talk about the bane of my existence? I have all week with him and only a couple hours with you."

They all agreed, and Eren led them to the backyard. It was a beautiful day out, so why waste it indoors?

* * *

><p><strong>Alrighty! There you all go! Surely Eren can lighten up a bit now that he has friends here, right? Right?<strong>

**Thanks for all the wonderful reviews I got on last chapter :D Maybe it you all continue to be good, I'll even throw in another surprise update later on :3 So start reviewing my pretties!**

**Once again, if you see any mistakes or inconsistencies, PLEASE tell me. Or if you just want to tell me my story is awesome then that's fine too ;)**

**Also, I do have a tumblr and the link is on my profile.**

**Until next time!**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


	5. Your Friends Will Want To Pester You

**I was up till like 4 last night and now I'm wondering why I waited until now to upload the chapter… It would have been cool to upload it at like 4 in the morning. In other news, I want to take a nap.**

**Oh, oh… and there's this new chapter you should probably read. :D**

**Nothing is to be owned here. For I own nothing.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: Your Friends Will Want to Pester You<strong>

Levi growled as he went through his emails in his room. Eren wasn't the only one unhappy about the week. With Eren here as a "test run," that meant they had to spend as much time as possible together. Which meant for the entire week, Levi had to stay home. Over the weekend was fine. Levi didn't like working over the weekends anyway so having Eren over was perfectly fine, that is, if he didn't act like such a brat.

This bugged him to no end. He didn't like working from home for even one day, but for a week? If anyone wanted to know why Levi was in such a bad mood today that was why.

Levi forced his way through another email. He hated the fact that he wasn't able to actually see what Erwin was talking about. How was he supposed to know what was actually happening? It wasn't that he didn't trust his co-workers to do things right while he was gone. Hell, they were all his closest friends, and he would trust them with his life. Well, except for Hanji. To be honest, Hanji would probably kill him faster by accident. It was just that he needed to feel like he was being useful, and sitting at his desk in his room so he could entertain a shitty brat was not being useful.

At least the brat had friends over today so Levi could work in peace. They had even chosen to stay outside, which meant that the noise level wouldn't be as bothersome.

Now the only problem was that Levi had a perfect view of them from his room. And it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his attention on his computer. They were far too distracting.

For one, Eren had a large group of friends. When he'd asked Levi if it was alright for friends to come over, Levi had expected two, maybe three, people to come over. Not an army. Not to mention that they kept moving. Every time Levi thought his eyes had adjusted to having the group of brats in his peripheral vision, one of them would do _something_, and his gaze would be drawn back to the pack of teenagers.

What surprised Levi the most, though, upon first inspection of the group was that he actually recognized one of them. A small blonde by the name of Christa Lenz. Her father was a close business partner to his family and was fairly selective on who he and his family was acquainted with. Levi specifically remembered how Mr. Lenz had not so subtly tried to push a relationship out of Levi and Christa during one party, too. It didn't work out, needless to say. So now, Levi was wondering how Eren had managed to become friends with her.

Actually, if he was being honest with himself, he was wondering how Eren had managed to have so many friends in general. It didn't seem possible for such a perpetually angry boy.

Realizing he was once again wasting time watching Eren and his friends, Levi shook himself out of it and returned to his work.

There was a new email from Erwin. Apparently, the test run for the new level of Attack on Titan failed horribly. The characters weren't moving properly, the special features didn't work, and the mobile version only crashed every time it was opened.

Levi could feel a major headache coming on. How the hell was he supposed to fix this? All of the programing files and information were at the office and it would be impossible to send the files via email. The files were just too large. And if he didn't have the files, how was he supposed to try and find the source of the problem and help offer solutions? Plus, it was just so much easier to talk to his coworkers verbally and in person than through email.

Without his permission, Levi's eyes wandered back over to Eren and his friends.

They were sitting under the godforsaken tree that Eren had climbed up yesterday. He noticed one girl in particular this time. She had black hair and a red scarf despite the warm weather, and she hadn't left Eren's side this whole time. Who was she? Was she someone that Eren had wanted to date but couldn't due to the engagement? If that was the case, he could understand how Eren would be so upset. She was very pretty, and it was obvious that they were very close with each other.

Levi had to stifle a short twang of jealousy. After all, there was no reason to feel jealous of someone when the person they were clinging to wouldn't give you the time of day to do anything other than argue. Besides, he couldn't be jealous yet. To be jealous you need to actually like someone. And he couldn't be falling for the brat so soon could he? Or perhaps he was simply jealous of the fact that he laughed and smiled with them. He wanted Eren to have fun with him too. He didn't want to fight forever with the brat.

When Levi finally stopped his musings, he noticed he'd received another email.

**From: Hanji**

_ So how are things going with your boy toy?_

Delete.

Fuck Hanji… Couldn't she realize that the work email was for fucking work? Not thirty seconds later, there was another email from her.

**From: Hanji**

_ Oh, come on! Don't delete my email like I know you probably just did!_

She was fucking psychic.

**To: Hanji**

_ You do realize that this email is specifically for WORK and not your pathetic attempts at trying to gain more information on my brat of a fiancé._

**From Hanji:**

_ But you won't answer if I call you or text you! And you never answer your non work email! And you've threatened to destroy all of my toilets if I come over and visit! What else am I supposed to do? You've left me no choice so this is your fault really._

**To Hanji:**

_ Have you perhaps considered not asking me about it?_

**From Hanji:**

_ I'm not going to get any information out of you if I don't ask! Duh._

**To Hanji:**

_ You're not going to get any information anyway. Just drop it._

**From Hanji:**

_ Oh! How about if I video chat?_

Of fuck no. There was no way in hell Levi was going to answer any video chat calls from Hanji. Especially when he had such a hard time focusing on anything inside his room already. Really, he should just close the blinds. But then he would miss out on all the sunlight. If he had to spend this beautiful day inside then he was going to keep the blinds open. Even if it meant he'd have to deal with the brat and his friends constantly being in the corner of his eye. They couldn't stay there all day after all… Right?

_Incoming Call from Hanji…_

Nope. Levi declined, knowing that Hanji would either only call back again or spam his inbox. At least he wouldn't have her voice making his headache any worse.

_Incoming Call from Erwin…_

… Shit. Either this was Hanji hijacking Erwin's computer for the sake of finding out about Eren or it was actually Erwin wanting to talk about something relevant and important. So, with a heavy sigh, he clicked accept.

The first thing he saw was glasses and always messy brown hair tied up in a ponytail.

"LEVI!"

Fuck.

"Hanji, I am going to hang up right now, march over to your fucking house, and-"

"Levi, Levi, wait!" came Erwin's voice. "I actually do have to talk to you about something important. So please, don't hang up." Levi's lips formed a thin line, but he slowly and grudgingly removed the mouse from the end call button. Then he sat back in his chair.

"I'm listening. But you need to get her-" Levi pointed a finger at Hanji "-out of here."

"No! Levi! Please! I need to know! How's everything with your boy toy?!"

"First of all, don't ever call him my 'boy toy' ever again. Second, I am not telling you anything about him. And third, get out of my face before I risk angering my father in ways I don't want to anger him so that I can strangle you." Hanji stuck her tongue out childishly.

"Boo. You're no fun Levi! But don't worry! I'll get it out of you eventually!" And then she was gone.

"Sorry about that," Erwin laughed, rolled into the camera shot. "She originally hijacked my computer to call you, but then I realized I actually needed to talk to you and video chat would be a lot easier."

Levi relaxed back in his chair, the danger finally gone. "Just so long as she doesn't barge back in and demand to know more about that brat."

"I have to admit, though, I am curious about him too." Erwin leaned forward, resting his head on his hands elegantly.

"Oh, God, not you too."

"You can't blame me. You got all riled up about him and then refused to give us any more details."

"You'll find out about him soon enough, just fucking calm down will you? He's my fucking fiancé. He's not going to drop off the face of the Earth for fucks sake. In fact, if you don't see him by the end of summer, you're fucking blind."

"The _end_ of _summer_?" Erwin repeated, incredulous. "That's a long time from now Levi."

"I said by the end of summer, not after or at the end of summer," Levi sighed, leaning back. "Meaning you'll see him before then. The engagement is supposed to go public after he graduates so really if you don't see him in the beginning of summer then you're fucking blind."

"That's still pretty far…"

"It's two months. You'll fucking live. Now can we stop talking about this? I only have so much time to work before I had to spend every waking moment of this week with that brat."

"Alright, alright. Now I've left the programming of the next level to Gunter and Erd, but I was talking to Petra and it seems that one problem might stem from the layout of the map-"

Erwin continued on discussing the problems of the new level and possible solutions. He held up pictures that helped demonstrate his point better than simply describing it in an email. Levi paid close attention and offered his limited help, but after a half hour Levi's attention began to drift.

"Levi."

"Hmm?"

"Levi!"

"What?" Erwin shook his head.

"That's the third time you've stared off to the side like that in the last 15 minutes. What's going on?" Now it was Levi's turn to shake his head.

"Nothing, I'm just a bit… distracted." He gave one last glance outside. Eren and his friends hadn't moved from the tree, and now they were playing cards. He couldn't tell what game from so far away though. Although, from what it looked like, Eren wasn't doing too bad judging from his smug face. Levi watched, though, as the next turn came and Eren's smug face dropped. Eren fell back in an overdramatic fashion and everyone laughed. Even Levi found himself letting out a small chuckle.

"Levi!"

Levi jumped as Erwin called his name, and he hid his face in one hand.

"Fuck, sorry Erwin."

"Seriously, Levi?" Erwin smirked playfully. "Now you can't avoid talking about it… It's him isn't it? Your fiancé?"

"Drop it, Erwin. You know if you talk about him a certain someone is going to-"

"Fiancé?!" Not five seconds later, Hanji's face filled up the screen next to Erwin. "What's this I hear about a fiancé?"

"It's nothing. Leave us alone."

"Levi has been zoning out and looking out the window for the past 15 minutes." Erwin you dirty traitor.

"You're joking! Really?!"

"Fuck you, Erwin." Erwin only laughed.

"This is what happens when you don't tell me right away."

"Alright, fine! Yes, I was looking out the window. But it's a fucking gorgeous day out and I'm stuck inside working." That's a good excuse right? They won't pry any further right? Wrong.

"And why is that?"

"Because there's a ton of shit to get done and the only time I have to do it is while E-there's people over entertaining that brat so I don't have to." Hanji and Erwin shared a glance, both having heard the slight slip up, but chose to say nothing.

"And where are they?"

"In the back-ballroom. Ballroom. They're in the ballroom." Levi swore. Even he couldn't come back from slipping up that badly. At least he managed to catch himself with Eren's name.

"Oh really? The back ballroom?"

"I didn't know he had a back ballroom. Did you?"

"No, I most certainly did not."

"They're in the backyard." Levi stressed, giving up his façade.

"Really? You know, I do believe you have a great view of the backyard from your room."

"Yes, it's the window that you just so happen to be have been looking out of while we were talking."

"I. Hate. Both of you. So fucking much. Yes!" Levi finally cried. "Alright?! He and his friends are in the back-fucking-yard and I keep getting distracted by them. Are you fucking happy?!"

Hanji jumped up and down squealing, "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!"

"That wasn't so hard now was it?" Erwin teased.

"Don't talk to me."

"Oh! I fucking knew it! You are completely smitten by him!" Hanji pointed a finger at Levi after she stopped hopping around like a retarded bunny.

"I am not." And it's true, he wasn't.

"I don't know Levi…" Erwin spoke contemplatively. "You don't zone out very easily."

"I can't be smitten with him."

"Can't or won't?"

"Can't! He's a fucking brat! The fucker is constantly being a total dick to just about everyone here! I want to throttle the shitty brat! He pisses me off!" Levi yelled. Why couldn't they see that he was not smitten with that brat?

"There's a fine line between love and hate~!" Hanji sang. Oh how Levi wanted to rip out her vocal cords right now.

"I don't give a fuck!"

"Well, I certainly don't think you love him," Erwin offered helpfully. "But you can't deny that there's something captivating about him to you. Otherwise you wouldn't act like this."

Fuck. He had a point. While there was no way in Heaven, Hell, or even fucking space that he could be in love or smitten with Eren, there was no denying that the brat intrigued him. There was something about him that pulled Levi towards him, and Levi couldn't for the life of him figure it out.

Levi sighed, glanced once more out the window, and froze.

Eren and one of his friends were fighting. He was taller than Eren with kind of weird two-toned hair. It looked like a pretty heated argument.

"Levi?"

"Shut up."

Levi leaned forward in his chair towards the window. He couldn't hear anything and he couldn't read lips, but he was pretty sure it had something to do with the game they'd been playing. Levi quickly surveyed the rest of the group. Each person was making one of two faces: either they were cheering them on or they looked bored.

Did those two fight a lot?

Did Eren fight a lot?

Could it be that Eren really was just an aggressive person and the marriage wasn't as important as he thought?

Hope swelled up in Levi for a moment that perhaps the fights weren't anything personal. Then, it shriveled up. If this was normal behavior for Eren, then there wasn't much hope in getting him to change so they weren't fighting all the time. Levi sighed and his shoulders drooped at the thought. Was he really going to spend his life with a guy who couldn't hold a conversation without fighting?

"Levi! What's going on?!" Levi sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Nothing."

"Aww, come on!" Hanji whined pitifully. "Don't skimp out on us! What's your boy toy doing?!"

"I told you to stop calling him that. Now I'm definitely not telling you."

"No- wait. You mean there was a chance you'd tell us?!"

"No."

"Levi…"

Levi chuckled at her form, finding pleasure from watching her suffer like that. Serves her right for being so fucking nosey. He decided to check up on how Eren was doing with his fight, if it was even still going on. So, he peeked out the window once more…

… Just in time to watch Eren punch the other guy in the face.

"What the fuck?!" Levi cried before he could catch himself, bolting upright in his chair. Both Hanji and Erwin stood at attention at the computer, watching Levi closely.

"Levi?!"

"What's going on?!"

"No, hold on, shut the fuck up."

Levi crossed over to the window, his face a flurry of confusion. What the hell was going on down there?

Both boys were going at it with each other. Or at least trying to. A black haired boy was holding the two toned guy back by hooking his arms under the guy's shoulders, but the guy was still struggling, managing to kick Eren back in the shin. Eren had been, at least before the kick, somewhat calmed down by the scarf girl simply by having her pull him back by the shoulder one-handed. After the kick she had to hold him back with more force and a small blond haired… boy (?) had to help. Eren was angry in a way Levi had never seen before.

And in what seemed like an instant, he was back to normal. He was kind of frustrated, but that was basically the same thing with Eren. He'd brushed off the scarf girl and he-she off of him and two-toned did the same thing with black hair. Then they returned to their game. They each gave each other a small shove and that was it. Their fight was over.

What.

The.

Fuck.

Levi honestly couldn't comprehend what he'd just seen. Eren had gone from laughing with his friends to arguing with one of them to punching them in the face and then back to laughing with his friends within a matter of minutes.

He honestly did not get Eren. Even after witnessing Eren reacting to people that weren't Levi and his father, he was still no closer to figuring out the puzzle that Eren now was. In fact, he was probably even further from solving it than he was before.

"Leeeeeviiiiii~~!"

Oh, fuck…

"Leeeeeeeeeviiiiiiiii~~~! Tell me what's happening~~~!"

Levi groaned as Hanji's nasally voice came from the computer. He reluctantly returned to his desk, the oh-so-curious faces of his two supposedly "best" friends taking up his screen.

"I'm not telling you. You can bitch and scream and moan all you want but I'm not going to tell you."

"I am not going to leave this computer until you tell me what's happening!"

"Alright."

And with that, Levi ended the call.

And turned off the computer.

And turned off his phone.

He'd turn them back on in a bit, but right now he needed to think, and he wouldn't be able to do that with Hanji, and Erwin too, screaming at him about what had happened.

* * *

><p>Back under Eren's Tree (if you thought Eren wasn't going to keep calling it Eren's Tree then you were horribly mistaken), Eren and his friends sat in a circle. After some card games, a race up Eren's Tree between Eren and Jean (which Eren won by the way), and a rousing and slightly painful game of hide and tackle (it was like hide and seek only Reiner always played too rough, which meant so did everyone else), they were back to playing card games under the protective shade of the tree. Everything was going smoothly until Reiner tried to ease in a suggestion to Eren.<p>

"So, I know you don't want to talk about him-"

"Great, thanks for acknowledging that. Now, who wants to play another round of Cards Against Humanity?" Eren cut off quickly, reaching for the cards. He knew exactly where this was going and he did not want to participate.

"Oh, come on, Eren. Please?" Sasha begged, her hands clasped together as she leaned forward towards him.

"No."

"But we're dying to know!" Connie, who was sitting right next to Sasha, mimicked his girlfriend. "Please?"

"I've already told you too much as it is! Really, no one outside of our two families are supposed to know," Eren grumbled, shuffling the cards in his hands.

"Oh!" Connie gasped. "So that's why Armin and Mikasa were all like "Don't tell anyone about Eren when you find out" and "Like seriously, you can't tell anyone. This is a big secret.""

"Yeah. And seriously, if any one of you tells a single soul outside of this group I will personally see to it that you suffer ten times worse than I will have to if this gets out." Eren jabbed a threatening finger at them and backed it up with a glare. He knew that they never really listened to his threats, mostly because Mikasa and Armin never let him follow through with them. Though there were a couple times where he had them, Jean and Reiner specifically, eat their words. Those were proud moments for Eren.

"Oh shit! Guys! He's actually going to have the power and money necessary to back that threat up!"

"He's not a puppy we can kick around anymore."

"The horror!"

"Oh fuck you guys." Sometimes Eren didn't really understand why he was friends with these people.

"So why did you tell us? Aren't you going to get in trouble for it?" Christa asked worriedly.

"Because Levi's dad is a really nice guy and more understanding than my dad. And I'll probably get my ass chewed out by my dad when he finds out. It's weird though," Eren pondered. "Levi's dad treats me with so much respect and doesn't treat me like a child. It's weird… It feels like there's some sort of catch. Well, besides having to marry the world's largest asshole, douchebag extraordinaire." He started passing out cards to everyone, hoping that the conversation was now over.

"And speaking of…" Oh for the love of… Reiner…

"Oh god, can you not?" And there was where they'd come full circle. Actually they'd had this conversation at least five different times and it was really starting to get old. He even ended up punching Jean in the face because of it. Who then kicked him in the shin, which still hurt a bit. The bastard.

"But it's Levi Voclain! How many other chances are we gonna have to hear about him from a first-hand experience, or even possibly meet him." The very conspicuous suggestion was not lost on Eren.

"You do realize that I'm marrying the jerk, right?" Eren pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "You are gonna have infinite opportunities to hear me complain about him and see him be a jerk."

"Well, when could we meet him? Like, without needing to keep it a secret and stuff?" Marco wondered. Eren's friends leaned in closer to Eren out of curiosity. The cards were forgotten. Eren ran his fingers through his hair as he thought about it. When was it again?

"Uh… The… official announcement of the engagement is supposed to be… sometime after I graduate. I don't remember the exact date. Or if there even is an exact date."

"Summer?!" Ymir shouted in shock. "We're gonna have to wait until summer?"

"That's so far away though! It's only spring break!"

"You're getting the opportunity to meet Levi Voclain in a casual setting several times in the future, an opportunity I remind you that very few people get to have, and you're going to complain that it isn't right now?" Eren couldn't believe this. Were his friends really that starstruck?

"Yes."

Apparently so…

"Fuck you guys."

Everyone laughed.

"Aww! We love you, too, Eren!"

"I don't."

"He can have my platonic love, but my real love is for Christa."

"I don't care how you love me or not, I still hate you all." Eren made to get up and leave. Where he was going to go, he didn't know, but he didn't have to think about it for too long as Armin pulled him back down.

"You know you love us. What would you do without us?" he asked, holding Eren in place.

"Be happy," Eren grumbled, but complied and stayed seated.

"Even without Armin? Or Mikasa?"

"I'm fine with Armin and Mikasa, it's the rest of you bastards that I hate."

"So you hate Christa? Marco? Berthold?" Eren paused.

"… Fine, I hate _most_ of you bastards. Especially horseface over there."

"Go to hell, Jaeger!" Eren gestured and fixed Jean with a pointed stare.

"Already there," he smiled ruefully.

"Wait," Berthold spoke up, holding his hands up in a silencing motion. "Is your last name gonna change to Voclain when you get married?"

A hush befell the group as they contemplated it.

"Huh, I never thought about that…" Eren said absentmindedly, before groaning. "Ugh, and it probably will too. Just my luck…"

"Oh no! It's going to be so weird not to refer to you as Eren Jaeger…" Marco commented softly.

"You mean our Jaegerbomb isn't going to be a Jaegerbomb anymore?" Ymir gasped, melodramatically.

"No more Jaegermeister for you," Connie chortled.

"Oh, haha," Eren deadpanned.

Mikasa harrumphed, crossing her arms. "There was no Jaegermeister to begin with. And none until you turn 21," Mikasa added as a side thought.

"Mikasa!" Eren blushed lightly. She was always babying him!

"Yeah, I don't think we'll want to see Eren drunk," Berthold laughed nervously.

"I wanna see Eren drunk!" Jean proclaimed, laughing as well. "He's probably an idiot when he's drunk. More so than usual at least."

"That's gonna be weird, though. Eren Voclain…" Armin sighed. It was going to be especially weird for him since he had known Eren the longest. To think that he'd have to refer to Eren as anything other than Eren Jaeger was going to take some getting used to.

"It's got kind of a nice ring to it, though, doesn't it?" Christa murmured, sweetly albeit quietly for fear of upsetting Eren. She was sure he wouldn't take too kindly to having someone saying his name sounded good with the last name of the guy he hated. It would be like telling him Eren Kirstein sounded good.

"Yeah, it does doesn't it? Eren Voclain," Sasha tested, also liking the way it sounded.

"No, it doesn't!" Eren stared slack-jawed at his friends disbelievingly. How could they be so cruel to him? Saying that Levi's last name sounded good attached to his first… it was beyond mad! Mixing their names together at all was beyond mad!

"What if Levi's last name changed?"

"Levi Jaeger!"

"Eh… not so much… Eren Voclain sounds a lot better." The rest of the group agreed.

"Can you guys stop mixing our names together? I don't have to think about that yet so I'd rather not," Eren groaned. He had a good long while before that would become an issue and he wanted to keep it that way.

"So when is the actual marriage?" Damn it Jean! Just when Eren thought the conversation would finally end, Jean just had to go and ask another question.

"I don't know. We haven't even gotten past the engagement."

"Is there a specific time you're hoping it will be in? Like, summer? Or winter?"

"How about never?"

"Is there any way you can get out of it?"

"I can think of several good ways but they all involve me dying, and really, I don't exactly like the idea of dying."

"What about divorce?" Divorce, huh?

"Ugh, sounds great but it probably won't be an option until after Levi becomes head of the Voclain group, and who know when that will be. Then there's the whole general mess that divorce makes. If you don't agree on something then you have to go to court and split all your shit up, blah, blah, blah…" Yeah, divorce sounded great at first, but the more he thought about it the less appealing it became. Especially considering that the topic of the companies would come into play too, and Grisha would probably wring Eren's neck for trying to fuck up his precious life plan for Eren.

"Still, at least it wouldn't be for all of your life. Just some."

"Why do you have to marry him?" Annie asked suddenly.

"It's a marriage that our families arranged! How many times do I have to say that? It's a fucking arranged marriage!" Eren yelled, exasperated. Connie, Sasha, and Jean he could understand needing a repeat but everyone kept asking him that!

"We get that part," Annie waved off. "The question is, why are you actually following it? You're a legal adult now, you have a say in who or what you marry." It was a valid point. Eren could very well tell his father and Levi to suck it and leave while flipping them off with both hands. The only problem was…

"His father has threatened him with disowning him," Mikasa answered for Eren.

"Exactly," Eren confirmed, sighing. "Then I'd be completely on my own, no money for anything, and I'd never get to see my family again cuz my dad would hate me that much."

"And what about Levi? He's 26. He's even more of an adult than Eren."

"Plus he actually has the money and power to live on his own comfortably even if he was cut off from his family."

"But that's probably it. Maybe he's just really big on family too," Eren shrugged.

"But really, the biggest question on everyone's mind is are we gonna meet Levi or not?" Fucking hell Reiner…

Just as Eren was about to refuse, a sudden thought came to him. He was almost surprised it hadn't come to him earlier. He had to suppress a smirk.

"How about a house tour instead?"

* * *

><p><strong>Writing Eren's friends is always fun but really difficult. Who's talking now? Who should be saying what? But they've already talked too much! D: Large groups of people are difficult…<strong>

**As always, please review and let me know what I did right or wrong or what part was your favorite.**

… **I wonder what would happen if I just placed random "REVIEW"s in the author's note… Would more people remember to review…? I shall test next chapter.**

…

**REVIEW**

…

**PS... HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARMIN :D :D :D :D :D I felt like that needed to be there. Yup.**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


	6. But They Will Also Want To Help You

**I'm having a debate with myself, and I'm wondering when to include all of you in it. I have like… 10 chapter written past this and whatever decision I make won't change anything for like… another 5 chapters at least so this won't affect anything for you guys for quite a few more chapters… But just know that there WILL be a poll coming up soon. :D**

**Once again, I own nothing… Like a loser.**

**HEY! See if you can spot where I got pissed off at these fucking page breaks! :D**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: But They Will Also Want to Help You<strong>

It only took half an hour before Levi realized that he was only wasting what little time he had to work. After all, he had to make sure everything would be okay for the next week without him. Of course, he did that on Friday as well, but it couldn't hurt to make sure while he had the time. He was through with video chat, though. At least with emails, he could just delete them as they came.

The next two hours were spent deleting Hanji's emails, reading Erwin's emails, responding to them, and watching Eren while he waited for Erwin to respond. During that time he'd seen them play two card games using playing cards, another card game involving black and white cards, Eren and two tone race up the tree (a race that Eren won), and some really weird mix of hide and seek and tag that seemed way too unnecessarily violent.

Levi had just finished a response to Erwin's last email when he glanced outside, only to see the group of friends heading inside. A twinge of apprehension sparked inside Levi.

No. There was nothing to worry about.

The brat wasn't going to do something stupid was he? Like, oh, maybe try to bother Levi?

The ever increasing sound of other people, loud other people, proved Levi wrong.

They had stayed downstairs for a bit, seeing as Levi couldn't hear them for a good long while, but he could hear them coming up the stairs and talking, even through the thick walls of the house. How loud they must be… If this was how they actually talked then Levi honestly wondered how Eren- scratch that, how none of them were deaf yet.

"_This is the second floor. It's mostly just bedrooms, but there's a library down the hall over there_," came Eren's voice.

"_Eh?! A library? No way! Can we go see it_?" Levi didn't know whose voice that was. But apparently they liked books.

"_No, I brought you on a house tour just to tell you the rooms that were here. Of course we can go see it_!" Eren laughed. Weird. Levi hadn't heard Eren laugh yet. It sounded nice, and left Levi with this yearning to hear more.

So he was giving them a tour of the house, huh? Levi let his shoulders drop in relief, but despite how innocent it seemed, he still couldn't shake the idea that Eren probably had something planned. It wouldn't be like him to pass up such an opportunity as this.

Levi blinked in stunned realization at what he'd just been thinking before sighing, crestfallen. Great, he was already assuming that Eren would do anything to make Levi's life hell. It was becoming instinct to prepare himself for a fight every time he encountered Eren. Levi didn't want to fight with Eren. In fact, all of this fighting was starting to get old. But Eren wouldn't let Levi close enough for him to figure out how to stop it.

"_This is my room_," he could hear Eren say. Looks like they were done with the library.

"_Dude! It's huge_!"

"_That's so cool_!"

"_Is that your closet? Is it a walk-in_?"

"_No, that's the bathroom. The walk-in is in the bathroom_." You know, for someone who seemingly hated being here so much he sure sounded pretty damn smug.

"_What?! The bathroom?! You get your own fucking bathroom? And a fucking walk-in?! Fuck you, Jaeger_."

"_You wish, horseface_."

"_Which one is Levi's_?" Oh no… Oh please don't…

"_That one there_." For the love of God don't even try.

"_Can we meet him_?" Just go about your silly little tour and leave Levi alone.

"_I've told you a thousand times that he was fucking busy_!" … Huh… Was he actually being considerate of Levi? That was a first. "_I'm not going to drag him out here to meet you ungrateful lot only to be killed later on. I don't have a death wish_." Well, even if it was only out of self-preservation, it was still a first.

"_Maybe we should knock_?"

"_Don't you do it, Connie_!"

"_Do it, Connie_!"

"_You're going to get me killed if you knock_!"

"_I'm gonna do it_~…."

Jesus fucking… Levi stood up and strode towards the door. Like hell if he was going to listen to Eren's uncouth friends bang down his door for the rest of the day. Better just get this over with…

Levi flung the door open, startling everyone in the hallway. The boy who was about to knock, a little baldy (and Levi took great satisfaction in the fact that baldy was shorter than him though he would never admit to anyone), literally jumped back in fear. He glanced over everyone else until his eyes met Eren's startled but defiant ones.

"I thought," he drawled. "That I specifically said that you could whatever you want with the only catch being that you would not disturb me." He narrowed his eyes threateningly. "Was there some part of this that you simply didn't understand, or do I need to stamp it on your forehead for your incompetent mind to comprehend?"

Eren snapped out of his startled state, only for a glare to take its place along with traces of slyness. The bastard had planned this, just like Levi's originally gut feeling had told him. Maybe his plan didn't include directly disturbing Levi, but Eren had wanted to disturb him nonetheless.

"How are we disturbing you? I was just taking them on a tour."

"Yeah, well it's a loud as fuck tour. Did you ever think about toning your voices down a notch or several?"

"I thought you said these walls were soundproof."

"_Practically_. They're _practically_ soundproof. Surprisingly enough, soundproof and practically soundproof are not the same thing. The latter meaning that I can still hear your annoying ass voice while I'm trying to work." Never mind the fact that Levi had only been half focusing on his work in favor of watching Eren. "Now, leave me alone. Unlike you, I actually have work to do." Eren glowered for a moment then turned to his friends.

"There, are you guys happy now? You got to see Levi. Now can we go do something else?" Eren hissed quietly, probably hoping Levi couldn't hear. That's why he bothered Levi? So his friends could meet Levi? Was there no intention of bothering Levi to begin with then? No, Levi was sure that Eren did want to bother Levi, but used it as an excuse for his friends to meet him.

"But, Eren-" A glare from both Eren and Levi shut the tall, well-built blond guy who had spoken, and the group started heading back downstairs with Eren leading the way.

Just as the group was about to walk out of sight, Levi caught sight of two toned and made a split second decision.

"Oi, two tone!" The guy looked back, questioningly and slightly offended. The boy next to him, the one that had held him back during his fight with Eren, and Christa stopped as well. Thankfully, they were in the back of the group so no one else really noticed. "Come here for a second."

"My name is Jean," he informed, walking back over. The black haired boy, who Levi now noticed had a plethora of freckles adorning his face, and Christa, after saying something to someone out of view, both followed.

"Yeah, well I didn't know that before."

"So what did you want?"

"What's your relationship with Eren?"

"My relationship? Why do you ask?"

"Curiosity." When Jean still looked unconvinced, Levi continued. "Humor me."

"Uh… well, he's a jerk and an asshole and an idiot and we hate each other's guts."

"Don't listen to him," Marco chuckled lightly, waving Jean off with a smile.

"Marco!" Marco only laughed more.

"I'm Marco, by the way." He held out his hand. Levi contemplated it for a moment before grasping it firmly with his own in a friendly shake.

"Levi. It's nice to meet you, Marco." Levi held out his hand to Jean as well, who took it nervously. "And you as well, Jean."

"Yeah… "

"They'll never admit it under normal circumstances," Marco continued. "But they're really the best of friends. They'll yell and fight with each other to no end, but if either was in trouble the other wouldn't hesitate to help. Not to mention that they've teamed up on a number of occasions to prank others." Marco gave Jean a pointed stare. "Even if not all of them are necessarily legal."

"Okay, first of all," Jean began indignantly. "There is no reason for you to be bringing that up! It's long in the past! And secondly, it was all Eren's fault! So don't you point fingers at me."

Marco laughed at Levi's confused face. "If you're ever on better terms with Eren, just ask him about the fire truck incident. It's a great story. If not very illegal. They almost spent a night in jail because of it."

"It's true, though," Christa spoke up. "About Eren and Jean helping each other, I mean. Remember when those guys from Trost were ganging up on Jean? And Eren immediately ran over to help? And with his help you sent those guys packing?"

"Oh please," Jean scoffed. "He probably just wanted the glory of beating those guys." His tone might have suggested indifference, but he couldn't stop the flush of embarrassment from rising to his cheeks. He was apparently one of those tough guys who tried not to show his feelings.

"It was five against two, Jean. And both of you got the crap beaten out of you in the process. Eren had a sprained wrist, fractured ribs, and both of his eyes were blackened. It was obvious that all of the odds were stack against you two from the get go, and you want to say he only did it for the glory?" Levi had a sudden possessive need to go find whoever they were talking about and personally kick the living shit out of them (after all, it was much easier to like Eren when he wasn't fighting with Levi at the moment), but shoved it down. It was in the past so there was no point in worrying about it.

"And don't forget those times when you talked Eren out of several of his episodes even though you knew that you'd get hurt every time." Levi didn't like the sound of that. Could he ask? Or would that be delving too deep into something he shouldn't know yet? Would they even tell him?

"Yeah, and it wasn't fun taking care of all those injuries, you know," Marco joked.

"W-Whatever…" Jean blushed even harder and stared at the wall.

"Episodes?" Levi asked, almost scared to hear the answer. The three of them exchanged glances. They were such deep and meaningful glances that Levi was almost positive that they'd just had an entire conversation simply by looking at each other.

"First," Jean started. "We want to know what your intentions are towards Eren."

"We're not going to give out information about our friend to anyone, especially if we think they're going to hurt him." Christa nodded in agreement, but said nothing. Levi sighed. Great. He was being interrogated by a couple of teenagers. Although, he did ask a personal question.

"I don't want to hurt him. If anything, I actually want to like him. I have to spend my life with him, as you have probably already heard a dozen times." Levi leaned against the door frame. "I just want to understand him."

They shared another glance, and Marco scratched temple lightly. "Well… and don't tell him we told you about this cuz he would probably freak out if he found out that we told you, he's not exactly fond of you, you know." Levi nodded in understanding. Oh yeah, he knew what Eren's feelings were towards him. "And we're not going to tell you a bunch of specifics about it. If you want to know more then you'll have to ask him yourself." Levi nodded once again. "…But, he wasn't exactly a happy child at the beginning of high school."

"He would have these psychotic episodes every now and then where he was completely blinded by rage. Most of the time he didn't even realize he was doing it. One time he tried to kick in an entire row of lockers, they were metal though so he only dented them, but they were pretty deep dents. By the time he'd snapped out of it, he was handcuffed to a chair in the principal's office with four policemen holding him down and he couldn't remember a thing." Christa nodded at Jean's words.

"Thankfully it was after school and the principal didn't let it get out that Eren had done those things. But it always seemed like something was constantly bothering him and he just sort of took it out on everyone."

"Yeah, then you mix in raging hormones and obligatory teenage angst and bam! Psychotic episode."

"Oh, but don't worry! He got help for it. With it, he got over it during sophomore year and he hasn't had one since. And recently he's been a lot happier," Christa reassured Levi. Apparently he must've look pretty worried. Who wouldn't be, though, after learning that their fiancé had been detained for nearly destroying an entire row of lockers in a fit of uncontrollable rage and that those fits of rage were _normal_ for a while?

"So it probably was just the weird hormones and teenage angst," Jean added.

Silence fell over them as Levi contemplated this.

"… Could it have had something to do with the arranged marriage?" he asked thoughtfully after a moment. Levi actually hadn't intended to say that out loud, and only realized that he had when someone responded, but nothing could be done about it now.

"Now that I think about it…" Marco thought out loud. "It's possible."

"Yeah, it would make a lot of sense. He never told us though. So we wouldn't know. You'd have to ask him that yourself."

"If he ever starts to like you that is," Jean joked weakly.

"Well," Levi sighed. "I've kept you here long enough. Thank you for answering my questions, and enjoy your time with Eren." Jean and Marco gave him shy goodbye smiles and left, but Christa lingered behind.

"Hi," she said, smiling.

"Hello, how have you been? I hear your father's been doing pretty well," Levi remarked, polite yet friendly.

"Very well, thanks! And yes, he's found a new business partner and is excited for it."

"That's good. So, was there something you wanted?" he inquired curiously.

"Oh, yes! I know you're busy, but I just wanted to say… Please don't hate Eren," Christa pleaded.

Levi was speechless. What?

"I know you two aren't exactly on the best terms… and you probably don't have a very good image of him… especially after what we just told you… but he's really not a bad guy! He's actually really nice and genuinely kindhearted, if not the tiniest thickheaded and really stubborn. In fact, his nickname at school is "suicidal bastard" cuz he just never gives up." She laughed at the name, obviously remembering some story related to it.

Suicidal bastard, huh? Interesting name. Levi could bet that the original story behind it was probably a good one.

"And even though people at school think he's a bit of a doofus," Christa continued. "He's still really popular. He never dated anyone because he always said he couldn't, and now I know why, but he always felt bad so when he turned them down he'd offer to take them out for ice cream. And then…" she smiled fondly. "He was one of the few people who liked me for who I was and not what I had. He made friends with me even though he didn't know who I was. He said that I "looked far too sad for someone who refused to be friends with anyone." And I can't thank him and Connie enough for that day, because if they hadn't talked to me then I wouldn't have as many friends as I do now."

"You better not be falling for him," Levi teased gently. "He's a taken man, you know."

"I know," she laughed lightly. "Besides, I'm a taken woman and very happy about it."

"And I don't hate him," Levi said firmly, shaking his head somberly. "I just don't get him, is all. And he refuses to let me in close enough for me to ask. Both physically and emotionally. I don't suppose you'd have any advice for me?"

"Appeal to his interests."

"And those would be…"

"Well, he's not too much of a reader but he loves to write. And he's big on video games, computer games, handheld game, games in general and movies. He's basically a child on the inside." So it looked like Levi was right, Eren was a brat, though not necessarily in a bad way. "Oh! And he loves being outside!"

"Thanks," Levi said, thankful that he actually had something to work with now. Christa placed a cautious hand on his shoulder.

"Good luck."

She waved happily, and then she was gone, leaving Levi with his thoughts and the beginnings of his plan to get Eren to break out of his angry shell. He had more pieces to the puzzle named Eren, but there was still so many more he needed before he could piece them together.

**THERE'S SUPPOSED TO BE A PAGE BREAK HERE BUT FANFICTION FUCKING SUCKS RIGHT NOW**

Eren's friends were supposed to leave at 5 that day. Carlton would be back at 5:30 and then dinner would be at 6. Plus it took about three hours to get to the lake house so leaving at 5 would be best all around. But four hours were honestly not enough in Eren's opinion. So he tried to drag it out for as long as possible.

By any means necessary.

"Eren, please let go of my leg," Armin begged at his pitiful friend. Eren had wrapped both his arms and his legs around one of Armin's legs. He didn't care if he looked stupid, just so long as his friends wouldn't leave him here all alone.

"No."

"Eren. Get up," Mikasa commanded. "You look ridiculous."

"Actually, I'd say he looks more like a dog whose masters are about to leave," Jean taunted. He walked over to Eren and kneeled down beside him, ruffling Eren's hair. "Aww," he mocked. "Don't worry, little puppy. Your masters will be back soon to pick you up."

Eren growled (in a completely un-dog like manner mind you) and snapped his jaws at Jean's hand. Jean stumbled back, startled, and fell on his ass.

"What the hell, Jaeger?!" he yelled.

"Horses don't have pet dogs," Eren stated simply. Jean glared.

"You wanna say that again, bastard?!"

"And here I thought horses had great hearing."

"Fuck you! But the joke's on you!" Jean laughed, pointing a finger at Eren.

"What?"

"You admitted to being a dog." Eren gawked at Jean, blushing.

"Go suck a dick!"

"Already have," Jean responded smugly, to which Marco blushed a deep red.

"Jean!"

"Dude… TMI…" Connie muttered, put out.

"Don't think you have room to talk, Connie." Sasha hit the top of her boyfriend's head with her elbow, not letting his previous comment from earlier go.

While everyone laughed at Connie, Armin managed to pull his leg out from Eren's iron grasp. Eren whined and put forth his most pitiful looking face, whimpering the tiniest bit.

"Holy crap! He looks like a kicked puppy! Jean, for once you were right!" Reiner gasped.

"I don't care!" Eren cried, still sitting on the ground. "I'll act like a fucking monkey if I need to! Don't leave! Or leave and take me with you! Just stuff me in the trunk and kidnap me!"

"Eren." Eren stopped bout of self-pity and pathetic pleading and stared at Jean, who was oddly serious. "You should give him a chance."

"Huh?" Now Eren was really confused. Give who a chance? He wasn't talking about Levi was he?

"How about you actually try to get to know him. If you do, maybe you'll find that he isn't as bad of a guy as you're making him out to be." Eren could only stare, open-mouthed and dumbfounded, as Jean talked. Looking around, Eren found that everyone else was just as shocked at Jean's strange burst of wisdom.

But, regardless of that, it was already past 5, and they had to leave. Eren stood and his friends all said their goodbyes and climbed into the three cars. Mikasa gave Eren a firm hug.

"If that shorty hurts you in any way, you just let me know and I'll kick his ass," she assured. Eren hugged her back wholeheartedly. For once, Mikasa's constant babying of him was much appreciated. She gave him one last comforting smile before heading off to the little blue Prius that was her ride to the lake house.

After her, Christa, all alone since Ymir was waiting by her truck, placed a gentle and comforting hand on Eren's shoulder.

"Good luck."

And off she went, climbing into the passenger's seat of the truck.

They all shouted their goodbyes once more from their cars as they drove away, those who had the hands to, waved. Even Jean.

Eren didn't know how long he stood there, staring off where he'd last seen his friends with a confused expression.

Why would Jean of all people say something like that? Didn't he see how terrible Levi actually was? Besides, he would have expected Armin or Mikasa to say something like that. Hell he thought Connie would be more likely to say that then Jean! … Okay, maybe that was pushing it, but it was still surprising. Jean didn't often spout serious words of wisdom all that often. The only times he did were when…

_Beep, beep._

"Eren!" Eren jumped at the sound of the car horn. Carlton had come back. His head was hanging out of the window and his car was idling in the driveway, a nice Mercedes Benz. "What are you doing staring off into space on the porch?" It took few seconds for Eren to realize that Carlton had actually asked a question and was actually waiting for a response.

"O-Oh, well… uh," he stumbled. What was he supposed to say? How long had he even been standing there?

"Ah, no matter," Carlton brushed off good-naturedly with a smile. "Why don't you head on inside and get Levi for dinner? I'm a little late so it should be ready soon."

Eren nodded vacantly and walked through the front doors and up the stairs. His movements felt robotic and precise. He didn't even flinch when he had to knock on Levi's door. Levi opened the door for the second time that day for Eren, looking less than pleased but not necessarily mad or upset.

"Haven't you bothered me enough today?" Eren heard Levi ask. Eren stared off to the side.

How about you actually try to get to know him…

"Your dad is home," Eren started, indifferent. Hey, it was better than hostile. "He told me that dinner would probably be ready soon and that I should go and get you."

Maybe you'll find that he isn't as bad of a guy as you're making him out to be…

"Whoopdi-fucking-doo," Levi whooped sarcastically. "I had no idea that dinner would probably be ready by 6 like it is every night. Thank you so much for telling me!"

Eren clenched his fists, but said nothing. After all, he was trying to make this work. Right? Wasn't he?

Levi studied Eren between narrowed eyes.

"I'll be down in a minute," he informed, this time with much less sarcasm. Maybe… it could work? Maybe Levi wasn't going to be such a jerk? "You better hurry, you might miss dinner." Levi gasped in fake horror before shutting the door in Eren's face. Eren felt anger simmer inside him.

No.

There was no getting along with Levi.

No matter how hard he tried, every time he tried to be semi-agreeable, Levi would always be a complete jackass! This marriage would never work!

But… Even so… Eren couldn't find himself feeling too angry about it. He didn't have the energy right now to even think about fighting back. He felt rather defeated overall and tired- no, exhausted. Like all he wanted to do was lie down on the ground and sleep.

He felt the same way he'd felt after Grisha left him on the porch, just like his friends had done. Plus he was physically tired now from the lack of sleep. So, Eren dragged his feet down to the dining room in hopes that dinner would be short tonight.

* * *

><p>"So how was your day, Eren?"<p>

"Fine."

"Your friends came over today, right?"

"Yes."

"Did you have fun?"

"Yes."

"What kind of things did you do?"

You know how when you're really upset and don't want to talk to anyone, but everyone seems to want to talk to you and just won't take the hint? Yeah, that was Eren and Carlton during dinner. No matter how many hints Eren dropped and how many short answers he gave, Carlton just kept asking questions.

Eren sighed.

"We hung out it the back yard." Levi rolled his eyes.

"That's specific." Great, even he wanted to talk to Eren. This was just not his night, was it? "You know, usually when someone asks what you did, they want to know more than "we hung out"." Eren only had the energy to give a weak glare, and boy was it weak. He was pretty sure he could see Levi laughing at it on the inside.

"Hey now Levi," Carlton reprimanded, though not very sternly. "If Eren doesn't want to share then he doesn't have to. He's probably tired from his friends coming over today and therefore doesn't want to talk as much."

"Y-Yeah. I'm just tired." Hey, if Carlton was going to say it then Eren was going to roll with it.

Levi rolled his eyes once again, this time with a barely audible "bullshit" to go along with it, but Carlton didn't hear it. That sort of frightened Eren.

Did he know? Was he able to read Eren so well? How was he able to read Eren, especially so soon? He was able to fool Carlton, but not Levi? Great… Fucking perfect…

"Oi!" Eren flinched.

"What?" Levi sighed, exasperated.

"Pay attention will you? I asked if you were alright. You've hardly touched your food." Eren's brow scrunched in confusion. Why was Levi asking him that? He didn't care about Eren's wellbeing.

"What? Yeah… I'm fine. Just tired, like M-Carlton… said." Eren would probably never get used to calling him Carlton rather than something like Mr. Voclain. It felt too informal for him.

Levi didn't say anything but sent him a look that clearly said "don't feed me the same bullshit that you're feeding my dad." The look made Eren feel weird. How could Levi know if Eren was lying or not? Why was it that Levi could read him so easily? Sure saying he was just tired was old and cliché, but it's not like it wasn't a plausible excuse…

Man, why was everyone acting so weird today?

"I think I'm going to go to bed," Eren stated, setting his fork down and getting up from the table. He'd only eaten about half of his food, but he couldn't find it in him to eat anymore right now. If he got hungry, maybe he could just nibble on some midnight snacks later.

"Oh… alright."

Eren jogged up the stairs and into his room. His too big for him room. He sat down on the floor by the foot of his bed, his usual spot, and let his head fall back against the frame of the bed.

Why was everything so weird and complicated right now?

Why was everyone so strange today? Jean spouts off some unlikely wise bullshit, Christa offering him a "good luck" that seemed to be weighed down with this overwhelming sense that she knew more than she let on, and Levi has apparently completely figured Eren out to the point that he knew when Eren was lying.

And none of it made sense.

Knocking at the door and a surprisingly sincere voice pulled Eren from his thoughts.

"Oi, Eren. Open up." Oh god no… Eren shut his eyes tightly in the hopes that closing his eyes tight enough would just make Levi go away. He so did not want to talk to Levi right now. "Eren." It was a command.

Against Eren's better judgment, he called out, "It's open, you can come in!"

And open it did, revealing Levi in all of his short assholyness if that was even a word. Eren didn't think it was.

"What's going on?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

"No, I know I heard you. I meant what are you talking about?" Well, really he meant how are you able to tell there's something wrong when your dad couldn't notice anything worth shit? But yeah, he wasn't going to ask that.

""I'm tired" my ass. You think I'd believe that for a second?" Levi scoffed as if that excuse was the most offensive thing Eren had ever done to him. And, considering that they hadn't really interacted all that much, it probably was.

"Why wouldn't you believe it?" Come on, just believe it will you? Eren didn't want to deal with this right now.

"Because from what I know about you, you're not the type to be tuckered out from a simple play date. Plus you're not that good of a liar." That ruffled Eren's feathers. That arrogant asshole.

"You don't know anything about me!" Eren yelled forcefully.

"You're right, I don't!" Levi yelled back just as intensely. It looked like Levi was about to say more, but Eren wouldn't let him.

"Well then don't make fucking assumptions about me like that! You don't know who I am! You don't know how I work!" Eren clenched his fists and felt the anger inside him begin to boil. This guy managed to push all of his buttons, and that was bad news. Familiar feelings from years ago began to resurface, coming back quicker than he imagined due to his lack of sleep.

Fuck.

"Then tell me!" Levi emphasized. "For fucks sake, how the hell am I supposed to know anything about you when all you do is avoid the fuck out of everyone here and fight with me whenever we happen to interact?! And for the love of fuck don't you ever say something like that again. You sound like an angsty middle schooler who just discovered Fall Out Boy. And really, if you haven't grown out of that stage yet then you really need to rethink your life."

"Maybe I don't want you to know anything! And fuck you! I'm not a middle schooler!" Breath. Deep breaths. Damn it, this was not what he needed right now. This fight was quickly getting much more heated than any of their other fights, which was probably why these feelings were showing up again.

"That's irresponsible. What? Do you plan on spending the next 60 fucking years with me as complete strangers? Did you really think that would work? And from your temper tantrums, I would have believed it if someone told me you were a middle schooler."

There was a short period of time where neither said anything. Levi watched Eren closely while Eren diverted his gaze to the floor in front of him.

"Go away…" Eren mumbled quietly, breaking the silence. Levi needed to leave before Eren's anger got the best of him.

"What? Can't think of anything to say because you know I'm right?" Levi taunted, unaware of Eren's struggles.

"Leave me alone…"

"And speaking of which," Levi pressed onwards, he was not going to let it go this time. "Why don't you talk to me, hmm? Why is it that you avoid everyone here? Why is it that you're always fighting?"

"_I said leave me alone_!" Levi jumped back from the retaliation, clearly not expecting such ferocity. But Eren had had enough. He was getting too close to the extreme feelings of anger he'd had long ago, and that scared him. Levi needed to leave and now. "I don't want to talk to you! Especially not right now! You're not getting anything from this pointless arguing so just fucking leave will you?!"

There was another several moments of silence as Eren panted, trying to regain his breath from his outburst. He couldn't read Levi's expression as the elder's hair covered and shadowed his eyes.

"You're right," Levi said finally, his tone dead. "This is just a waste of time. And I refuse to waste my time on some worthless shit like you." The door slammed on Levi's way out.

Eren resisted the urge to scream.

Give him a chance they said. _Maybe you'll like him they said!_

Fuck that. Levi was a terrible person and there was no way that he would ever be able to get alone, let alone like, that bastard.

Eren felt tears of anger and fear well up in his eyes. They spilled over without his permission and ran down his cheeks. Eren sobbed quietly.

He was so angry. Levi had been nothing but a complete dick the entire time he'd been here. He was constantly insulting him and yelling at him. The entire world may love Levi, but none of them knew what he was really like. He wouldn't be able to do this if it was going to stay this way, which it probably was.

But he was scared too. Scared because suddenly, feelings he'd managed to control and suppress back in his early high school years were showing their ugly heads again. Why were they showing up now? He thought he'd locked that anger deep inside with a cage strong enough to contain King Kong or the Hulk. This wasn't good. As much as he hated Levi and this stupidly large mansion, he didn't want them to have to deal with one of his rampages. Hell, Eren didn't want to deal with one of his rampages. Especially not with his friends so far away and unable to help.

And finally, he wanted to sleep. He really did. Sleep sounded like the best thing in the world right now, but that ever present feeling of his kept him alert and the walls that like to close in while Eren wasn't looking kept him from closing his eyes.

So Eren cried instead.

On the other side of the hall, Levi braced himself against his door, trying to comprehend what he'd just seen.

It wasn't what he was used to. Eren's voice at the end wasn't the same kind of anger he'd seen from the boy before. This one seemed stronger and was mixed with something else…

Fear.

What was Eren scared of? Why was he so angry? He'd never gotten that angry with Levi before, even when Levi was pressing him on his behavior. Hell, the last time Levi brought up Eren's behavior, the boy didn't even get angry. Not even a hint of anger. What was going on?

_He would have these psychotic episodes every now and then where he was completely blinded by rage…_

_Do you think it might have had something to do with the arranged marriage?_

_It's possible…_

Levi shook the thoughts from his head.

They said he got help for it, right? And lately he'd been happier, right? But, then again… If it had anything to do with the marriage, it's highly possible that Eren could relapse since the marriage was so much more real now. It was just an idea before, but now he's actually met his fiancé and is currently living in his house…

Levi sighed. There was no reason for him to jump to conclusions like that. It was an extreme that was unlikely to happen again.

But… Levi kept it in mind, just in case.

* * *

><p><strong>Did you guys find it? The part where these damn page breaks pissed me off? Like really? Just ONE didn't work? JUST ONE?! AND IT HAD TO BE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORY?! Fuck you all.<strong>

**So I just wanted to thank everyone who's been reviewing, your reviews mean a lot to me. I don't respond even though I probably should… but nevertheless I still really enjoy reading everything you guys have to say, and I'm glad you're all enjoying the story too :D**

**If you haven't reviewed yet, it would be much appreciated :D So yeah, you should totally review. Totally. Do it. Now.**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


	7. Thunderstorms Lack Punctuality

**So I've officially started posting this story on AO3 now that I finally have an account there.**

**ALSO! Not next Monday but the Monday AFTER, I will not be posting a new chapter. So on December 1st there will be no chapter update. I'll be driving all day… Just thought I'd let you know! You know… to get you prepared for that.**

**PS this is my favorite chapter title so far.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: Thunderstorms Lack Punctuality<strong>

There was a thunderstorm that night. Sometime around three, but Eren didn't actually check. He just knew it was some time in the early morning hours. Besides, thunderstorms always happened around 3 and 5 in both the morning and afternoon. Rarely at any other time of the day or night, and never when you need it to symbolize anything that's happening in your life. Especially when you need it to symbolize anything that's happening in your life.

Movies and books always use thunderstorms as these symbolic tools to make their stories more intense. In fantasy, the thunderstorm always show up right at the start of the fight, the thunder and lightning accentuating the intensity of the battle. Or it would be pouring rain as the main couple kisses romantically under the cascade of symbolic water. But in reality, they always managed to just miss whatever event would have been perfect for it.

But when the thunderstorm gave way a constant pitter pattering of soft rain, that's when Eren realized that today was going to suck.

If it was going to rain all day, then that meant Eren would be stuck in this stupid mansion for the rest of the day. Meaning he had very few places to hide from Levi. And with no friends to keep him busy, he'd have even less of a reason to avoid Levi.

At least the thunderstorm had inspired him to write some more. While he still didn't have an actually story to write, he had plenty of scenes that could probably be used once he actually had a plot. And so, he wrote, his new notebook slowly filling up page by page. The pages were crinkled, stiff, and were indented from not only the words written on the page, but from the words written on the page before it as well. The signs of a well-used notebook. And the writing made the time fly by much faster.

Without a computer or a television to use (sure he could use one of the two flat screens downstairs, but he didn't want to have to explain himself if someone came down for a midnight snack) the idea of not sleeping was suddenly very unappealing. Simply because it was far too boring.

But with his inspiration, Eren wrote into the later hours of the morning. He wrote until he had squeezed out every last drop of inspiration he had. He wrote until his legs had fallen asleep at least three different times from sitting on the floor, unmoving. And he wrote until the sun started its journey across the sky and he could see Carlton's fancy Mercedes Benz drive off into the sunrise.

And Eren could no longer write.

Holy shit did his hand hurt. Hours of holding a pencil and writing with it hurt. Eren was sure his hand would be cramping for the rest of the day. And his head… Oh, man he had a terrible headache now.

Note to self: don't write for hours and hours on end on one inspiration.

Eren groaned, stretching his stiff muscles and made to get up. Every part of his body hurt from sitting like that for so long. Especially his ass. Shower… A shower sounded wonderful at this point in time. He stumbled over to the bathroom. If he remembered correctly, there was not only a bathtub, but a shower as well. Why they couldn't just combine the two like normal households, Eren didn't know.

Stupid rich bastards.

He turned on the hot water and started to undress. It was only after he'd shed the last of his clothing that Eren realized that he had turned on the sink instead of the shower. And even so, it took him a full minute to properly understand what he'd just done.

"Shit…" he swore, turning off the sink and then finally turning on the shower. He double checked this time.

The bigger problem, though, was that the sleep deprivation was becoming worse. Eren had never stayed up this long before. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd slept. Looks like he'd need extra coffee today if he had to appear like he was actually getting sleep. The extra-long shower helped though. Eren switched back and forth throughout the shower between hot and cold. The hot water relaxed his aching muscles, and the cold water shocked him awake so he wasn't as disoriented. He'd still need buckets of coffee though.

But regardless of how great the shower had helped, he couldn't continue to sit on the floor like that.

He'd need a pillow pile or something.

Eren dried himself off (with the surprisingly soft towels, like really soft towels) and pulled on some clothes from his suitcase as he thought about it.

There were certainly enough pillows on his bed. Couple that with the pillows from the chair and couch (which for some reason his room needed) and he'd have plenty. So that's what he did. He grabbed all of the pillows in the room and made a pillow throne on the floor at the foot of the bed that he hadn't rested on since his first night here. The pillows were strategically placed so that there were armrests and the best pillows were part of the seat and back for optimal comfort. He had to start over a couple of times. The fluffy comforter on the bed was thrown over the pillows as a sort of glue to keep them all together, and so he wouldn't have to tear it apart because a pencil might have slipped between two pillows.

But, when Eren flopped down on to the throne, he realized there was something missing. Sure the pillows were squishy and comfortable, but it still wasn't as comfortable as it could be.

Oh he was going to look like an idiot. But he didn't care.

Eren dashed into the bathroom and grabbed as many towels as were there, laying them over the pillows and comforter. He sat down again, this time sighing in bliss. Perfect. Those towels had done the trick. But…

Now he was bored again. Eren checked the time on his phone.

11:00 am.

Well, at least the pillow throne and extra-long shower had killed plenty of time. But now what? Well, he supposed now would be a good time to probably get some coffee. Figuring out how to make it would take at least half an hour, if not more.

So off he went, in search of a coffee machine!

Eren actually hadn't really been in the kitchen yet, since he wasn't really paying attention during the tour, and it was a shock when he went in.

Just like the rest of the house, the kitchen was far too big with an island in the middle. He didn't even know what half of the equipment in there was called, let alone where a coffee machine was. He knew the oven and stove, though it looked like no oven or stove he'd ever seen. There was also a big flat… thing… It was like one of those things you'd find at a Japanese restaurant where they cooked in front of you. There was also a deep fryer and another oven (?) thing and… another oven? Okay, was it just Eren or was almost every piece of equipment in this damn kitchen a fucking oven?

"Can'a help you?"

Eren jumped, startled by one of the two cooks who were in the kitchen. He was tall with blond hair and a bit of scruff on his chin and he was holding a very large knife. And he had a very tall hat. Eren may not know much about cooking or… well… anything about cooking, but he did know that the tall hat meant he was in charge.

"U-um… I was just looking for… uh… coffee?" The man just stared at Eren for a moment before throwing his head back in laughter. Eren didn't know what was so funny, but the good aura that the man gave off kind of made him want to join in. As weird as he seemed, Eren liked this man. He guessed part of it had something to do with his slight accent, whatever it was.

"Ah, oh, I'm sorry, kid," the man sputtered out after he'd calmed down. "You just looked like you were gonna piss yourself out of fear. I know'a have a knife, but I'm not too keen on killin' people." Eren blushed bright red. He didn't even realized he'd looked like that. "So you said you wanted coffee right? I gotta fresh batch right here if you like. There's even a clean mug right next to it!" The man gestured to what was a very obvious, bright red coffee machine on the island. How'd he managed to miss that among all the grey, stainless steel?

"Thanks," Eren said, pouring himself a cup in the clean mug and adding as much sugar as the liquid could hold. "What are you guys doing?" He couldn't help but ask.

"We're in the process of making lunch right now. Paninis." The man smiled brightly. Paninis?

"Paninis?"

"You know, grilled sandwiches." Eren still wasn't following.

"… Like grilled cheese?" If it was just grilled cheeses then why call it a panini? The man threw his head back again and laughed.

"Hahah, a couple more ingredients then that. I'm Hannes, by the way," Hannes introduced. "Chef Hannes if you will. I didn't earn my culinary degree only for people to refer to me as Cook. And that fat ass over there is Hugo. Chef Hugo." Chef Hugo waved a hand, but didn't turn around from his work. "You're Levi's fiancé, right? Eren?" Chef Hannes asked, as he returned to his work of cutting stuff, probably stuff for lunch.

Eren nodded, shocked. "You know me?"

"Well'a don't know you, per say, but me and some of the other workers here have seen you, and let me tell you, your fights are the highlight of our days!" Chef Hannes laughed his head back again.

"Wait, wait. You know about our fights?"

"Everyone knows about your fights, boy," Chef Hugo chimed in, laughing alongside Chef Hannes, though not as enthusiastic as his co-worker. "The servants and maids know everything that goes in this place. That's cuz no one ever pays enough attention to them to realize that they're there. That first fight you two hand? About Levi's room? Yeah, there was a maid at the other end of the hall who'd just finished cleaning the study."

"Oh! And then there was a gardener who overheard your fight while you were in the tree."

"And just yesterday, Rico got to hear you two fight it out at lunch. I could only hear bits and pieces though, cuz the fan was so loud and these walls are thick as fuck."

Eren only blushed harder and hid it behind his cup of coffee. Were they really that obvious? But Carlton hadn't noticed yet, and he was actually paying attention to them. Did the servants just not tell him about these things?

"You guys are great, man, but'a wouldn't advise keeping it up though," Chef Hannes cautioned. "That boy can get quite the temper when properly pissed off. So whatever beef you may have with him, you'd better resolve it soon."

"I don't have a beef with him," Eren grumbled into his coffee. "He's just an asshole."

"You aren't a peachy tree to him, either, you know," Chef Hannes said pointedly. "But yeah, he is an asshole. That's just part of his personality."

"His piss poor personality," Chef Hugo joked quietly. Eren recognized it as one of the things he'd said to Levi at some point and his face turned red again. So they really did know about all his fights with Levi. And apparently they made jokes about it. Great.

"Levi does not come off as the nicest person around, but that's only because he's frank about everything." Chef Hannes explained. "He doesn't like to sugar coat anything. Mix that with his love of swearing and other family inappropriate words and that's Levi for you. So it basically goes without saying that often times people's first impression of him is that he's rude and just wants to put everyone down, but really, he's a pretty okay guy." This conversation was going where Eren didn't want it to go. It was time to get out of the kitchen now.

"Okay, well, thanks for the coffee. And it was nice meeting you." Eren's tone probably gave away the fact that he didn't truly believe Hannes, but he didn't care right now. He just wanted out of this conversation. So he refilled his mug and left the kitchen as quickly as he could. He liked talking to the chefs, he really did. He just didn't want to talk about Levi like that.

The only problem now was that Eren didn't have anything to do again. Looking through the nearest window, he could see that the rain was still falling so outside was still out of the question. Maybe TV? Or…

Eren walked into the party room then, and memories of sliding on the floor in his socks came back. That was something to do. Biting his lip, he looked around for any servants, remembering what Hugo had said. When he found no one, Eren set his mug on the ground near the wall so no one would knock into it and took his shoes off.

Taking a few tentative steps, Eren remembered just how slippery the floor was in only socks. It was like ice skating for the first time, only there was a bit more friction with marble than ice. Images of a guy in a loose button down shirt, boxers, and socks came to mind as Eren slid and twirled across the party room, coming close to falling more than a couple times. It was from some movie, he knew that, but which movie was the real question. Eren couldn't remember.

While he was sliding, Eren thought about what Hannes had said. In all honesty, it made sense. It was probably very true that Levi wasn't actually insulting him 24/7, but there was an exception to every rule. The larger part of his mind, the one filled with delusions from sleep deprivation and anger which only grew the less he slept that Eren wasn't all that aware of, was certain that at least most of Levi's comments were meant as insults. Because, really, they were always fighting. Levi probably had a terrible opinion of him and wanted to insult him all the time.

After one fairly impressive slide, Eren turned around to go again only to meet the eyes of the very man he'd been thinking about. Startled, Eren lost his footing and slipped comically with his feet over his head to fall on his ass. He laid down from the pain. Man, he'd just gotten feeling back there too.

"An incredibly hysterical fall for an incredibly impressive slide. Fitting." The bastard was laughing at him. Sure he wasn't outright laughing but Eren was sure that Levi was cracking up on the inside.

"Shut up." Eren glared at the ceiling until an outstretched hand came into view. Then he glared at that.

"Here, let me help you up." He ignored Levi and turned away from the hand, getting up on his own and walking towards his shoes and coffee as quickly as he could just to get away from Levi. "Or not," Levi sighed dejectedly. "It's time for lunch." And he left. He'd probably given up on Eren at that point, which was fine with Eren.

Wait, lunch?

Eren check his phone, and sure enough it was noon. It was actually five minutes past noon which was weird. Levi usually like to be on time or five minutes early for lunch. Just how long had Levi been there watching him?

Levi and lunch were already at the table when Eren got there. The paninis and all. When he sat down, he caught sight of Hannes, Hugo, and what he guessed was probably Rico, the girl who'd served them yesterday, peeking out from behind the door to the kitchen behind Levi. Dear God, they were so obvious! How'd he not see them before?! Or maybe they were just paying extra close attention today. They caught his gaze and Hannes and Hugo started to silently gesture to Levi, telling him to start talking to Levi. He felt like he was in some comedy TV show.

"Just ignore them. They'll get bored and go away soon enough," Levi informed emotionlessly. Hannes and Hugo smiled sheepishly while Rico sigh and face palmed at her two idiot companions. Looks like Levi was either more aware of the servant then most, or Hannes, Hugo, and Rico were just too obvious this time.

Just like Levi had said, soon enough the three of them left the doorway. They still had jobs to do after all. But, despite all of their efforts, lunch had been fairly quiet. Eren didn't want to talk to Levi, he never wanted to talk to Levi actually, and Levi apparently had given up enough on Eren at that point that he didn't seem to find a purpose in trying to get Eren to talk.

That is until the end of lunch, where Eren noticed Levi grimacing at him just like he had yesterday. Only today, Eren wasn't going to let it go.

"What?" he questioned, demandingly.

"You eat like a fucking pig. It's fucking gross." Eren sent a glare at Levi.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Princess. It was a messy sandwich, alright?" Levi shook his head.

"You eat like a fucking pig all the time. Don't blame the sandwich for your terrible table manners."

"And you're only just now commenting on it?"

"Well I was trying to be polite by not bringing it up. You were the one who asked. I was only answering your question."

"Did you think I wasn't going to ask when you kept making those faces at me?"

"I wasn't trying to coerce you into asking, that was just my natural reaction to seeing what a slob you are."

Eren continued to glare at Levi, but said nothing. He had nothing to say back to that, and it looked like Levi was done with the conversation as well. Eren promised himself that he'd get Levi back the next time they fought. He stored his anger inside for later.

After lunch, Eren tried desperately to avoid Levi as much as possible, and in the beginning, it worked. But after the sourness of their last fight had worn off, Levi tried persistently to try and spend some time with Eren. Where ever Eren went, eventually Levi would show up with some kind of comment and Eren would leave right after, holding in any anger or comeback.

In the library: "I didn't know you could read, let alone that you liked it."

In the party room: "Back to falling on your ass?"

In the music room: "I didn't think brats enjoyed classical music. Or did you just get lost?"

In the dining room: "Lunch is over you know."

Considering hanging out in the kitchen: "Is this why you were hanging out in the dining room? Because you're still hungry? You eat like a pig and now you're acting like one."

Damn it! Didn't Levi know that Eren was avoiding him for his own good? Hannes had told him to stop fighting with Levi and the only way Eren knew how that was going to happen was if they just avoided each other like the plague. But, no. Levi wanted to destroy that plan by trying to talk to Eren and spend time together! Prick.

Now Eren was in the family room, watching something on TV. He didn't know what, as he wasn't really paying attention to it, but so far he'd watched one episode of whatever it was and Levi still hadn't come to bother him. Did he give up?

The answer to that question was a no, but this time when Levi showed up, he didn't say anything. Instead, he sat down in the seat farthest from Eren and started watching TV.

This…

This might actually be okay.

Sure it was awkward and uncomfortable, but at least they weren't talking.

"Hey!"

Eren was startled once again that day as Levi yelled at him.

"What?!" he yelled back.

"About time, damn it," Levi huffed. "You were zoned out big time. I was calling you for fucking 5 minutes."

"Well, what do you want?" Eren questioned, annoyed.

"Pass me the remote. I fucking hate this show and you're not even watching it."

Oh how Eren wanted to retort, but he wouldn't let himself start a fight. He'd been doing so well today. So Eren threw the remote at Levi a little too harshly instead. He kind of hoped that Levi would yell at him for it so he'd have an excuse to lash out at Levi, but he didn't. Eren, mildly disappointed, went back to staring blankly at the screen.

Dinner wasn't much better. Only this time Carlton kept asking questions. Levi had taken the hint, after a really long time, of course, but he'd gotten it nonetheless, and kept his mouth shut. Eren had to hold back immensely with Carlton, answering with short, one worded answers, because Carlton didn't deserve his anger. Carlton had done nothing wrong. He was just a bystander in this shoot off between Eren and Levi.

"It's finally stopped raining, you know," Carlton talked, still oblivious to the tension in the air. "It's been raining all day so it's nice to give the ground a break, no?" He laughed, and Eren perked up a bit.

It wasn't raining anymore? He could go outside! Sure it was going to be wet and cold and dark, but anything was better than being stuck watching mindless TV with Levi and having Carlton bombard him with questions while feeling like he was going to explode any second. Hell, maybe he'd even be able to take a nap outside in the gazebo. He didn't get the feeling of suffocation and closing walls while he was outside so he might be able to sleep. He could sleep! Why didn't he think of this before?!

Wasting no time after dinner, Eren raced outside as soon as he could.

The ground was soft and squishy with the overabundance of water, and Eren lost himself in the feeling. He wasn't sure why, it was just interesting. The farther he walked, the less of his surroundings he noticed. He barely even noticed when he ran into his tree. The ground surrounding the base of the tree, despite having plenty of grass, was unbelievably thick and liquid like with mud.

This wasn't the gazebo…

Eren couldn't find it in him to care anymore, so he climbed the tree without a second thought. The bark was wet and slippery, making it a lot harder to climb up. So were the branches. If Eren had known he'd be sitting in his tree rather than the gazebo, he would've brought a towel. But that wasn't the only flaw in his disoriented plan. The danger of falling kept Eren from fully falling asleep. It was like constantly being splashed with water just as soon as the lulls of sleep have you in their grasp. But Eren was far too out of it to consider another option.

Eren didn't come back inside for hours. Four hours actually. It was cold, wet, and very, very dark outside. But still, Eren refused to come back inside until the clock neared 11, and it was only because it had become too cold to sit outside comfortably in only a jacket. As short as it felt, the trip outside was much needed despite not being able to sleep like he'd hoped.

Eren often thought that he wouldn't be able to last much longer here, but this time when he thought it, he had more reason to back it up. Much scarier reasons than before. The strangled feelings he got from the house, the feelings of anger reminiscent of his feelings from early high school mixed with the anger from Levi's snide comments from today, and his overwhelming exhaustion were building up and fast. As much as he tried to bottle them, they kept fighting back, cracking the glass confines they resided in.

He was going to break soon.

When Eren leapt down from his branch the mud at the bottom sloshed against his feet. The force of the jump landed him a good two inches in, the mud sucking him into the ground. It took effort to pull his feet out of the mud, and when he finally managed it, he shoes were practically dripping with mud.

He grimaced at the mess and headed back to the mansion. He tried wiping his shoes off on the grass on the way back, but it did little. It actually sort of made it worse. Now, instead of just mud, there was mud and grass pieces. God this sucked. Oh well, he'd just clean them when he got back inside.

Eren became distracted, though, as he walked. Just like he had when he was walking out to the tree. He could barely remember the walk there. He couldn't even remember walking into the house. What he did remember, though, was what he heard when he walked inside.

"What the hell are you doing?" Oh, great… Levi.

Wait.

Levi? Was he inside already?

Looking around he found that he was standing in the middle of the party room, a very pissed off Levi glaring at him like he was some kind of scum from the lowest shit hole you could find. Now the question was… What was he doing? Okay, time to retrace his steps. He was walking outside… in the mud… and grass… and he was going to take his shoes off…

Eren paled and was almost too scared to turn around. But he did anyway. Forcing his body to turn around, he found the source of all the anger now showing on Levi right now.

Right behind him was a long, ugly trail of mud and grass leading from him all the way to the door… And considering just how big the party room was and the fact the Eren had made it to the center of the room that was a long line…

"Uh…" Eren couldn't say anything else. What was he supposed to say?

""Uh"? Really? You're so fucking articulate." Levi's voice was so cold, if Eren looked hard enough he'd probably be able to see Levi's breath. "You cannot seriously be shitting me right now! Did it ever cross your puny, incompetent brain to maybe, oh, I don't know, take off your fucking shoes?! Are you fucking kidding me?! There's mud fucking everywhere!"

'_I'll smear it on your face if you don't_-' NO! Don't think that! Don't even think anything like that! No matter how exhausted he was, Eren couldn't let himself be taken over by the anger and exhaustion. He could _not_ fight with Levi. He couldn't!

Eren tried tuned out Levi but it didn't work. He was coming dangerously close to snapping. That glass bottle couldn't hold forever, and now just might be its last night.

"Are you trying to fucking piss me off?! Cuz guess what! It's fucking working! But you wanna know what, shitty fucking brat? Nothing's changed! You're still stuck in the house for the week, you're still fucking getting married to me, and no matter how big of a temper tantrum you throw, you're still not getting out of it!"

He needed Levi to stop talking. He needed Levi to let it go and leave him alone now or else the shards of glass would fly everywhere.

Eren covered his face with his hands. "Go away… Please…" he whimpered. "Leave me alone…"

His plea fell on deaf ears.

"Go away? What, is that a sore topic for you? No. No, you can't whine you're way out of this one! You don't get to play that card two times in a row just because you don't like what I'm saying! You need to fucking suck it up and get over it!"

The bottle broke.

"SHUT UP!" Eren tore his hands away from his face, glaring ferociously at Levi. His voice scratched at his throat from the raw emotion. "JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP! You have absolutely NO idea what you're talking about! You don't understand anything! You have no right to talk about things you don't understand!"

"Well, it's not my fucking fault! You get mad because I don't understand but then you refuse to tell me anything!"

"I don't want to tell you anything! I don't want you to know anything about me! I fucking hate you!"

"You are such a goddamn idiot! No, you're worse than an idiot! You must be full blown retarded!"

"And you… You have been nothing short of a complete and total shitwad of a person! You have been nothing but rude and insulting and a fucking asshole to me since I came here!"

"Oh. Oh, I'VE been rude and insulting and an asshole! You're full of shit, you know that?! You wanna see a true shitwad? Go look in the fucking mirror! I have tried to fucking make this work! I've fucking tried to talk to you to make this fucking work cuz we don't get out of this shitty situation! You're the one who's started every fucking fight we've had! You're the one who's shut everyone off here! And you wanna know what? I think the only reason is because you have to get married! It doesn't have anything to do with me or with my dad or with anything! You're just so fucking pissed that you have to follow orders so you think taking it out on everyone around you will somehow make it better!"

"You don't fucking know anything! Stop acting like you do! You have no idea what you're talking about! You keep using this fucking marriage as some fucking excuse to label my anger but you know nothing about me! You're horrible! You're terrible! I hate being around you! I can't see how anyone would like some fucked up shit like you! So, you know what? You can shove that marriage agreement right up your ass for all I care! You are nothing more than a midget with a cleaning disorder and I'll be damned if I have to spend the rest of my life being within a hundred fucking miles of a freak like you!" Eren spat the words out like molten lava dripping from his mouth, and there was a long pause as they burned through the air.

The phrase "if looks could kill" had nothing on Levi right now. He was far past being described by mere words and phrases.

"_Leave_." Eren opened his mouth to say something else but stopped with one look from Levi. "No. Leave, now."

Anger demanded that he stay and fight.

Self-preservation forced him to leave.

Eren, shoes still muddy, pushed past Levi in one last act of defiance and stomped upstairs.

A stunned Carlton, who'd heard the fighting and had come to investigate, was rooted to the ground just inside the entrance to the room. "Wh… What happened?" His voice was a big indicator to the fact that Carlton really didn't want to ask for fear of Levi's reaction. It had been too long since he'd seen his son show such raw emotion.

"_I won't do it_," Levi seethed, absolutely livid, as soon as the slam of a door had been heard. "I can't do it. There's no way in this world, or the next, that I'll be able to marry that… that…" Levi struggled to find a word strong enough and demeaning enough to properly describe Eren. None he thought of were bad enough. "He can burn in hell. Satan himself can drag him down there kicking and screaming, I don't care. He needs to leave. He can't stay here any longer. I won't stand for it. If I have to stand seeing him for one more day one of us is going to be severely hurt. And I'm not going to let it be me." Each sentence was spoken with ice. The very air around Levi had practically frosted over with the intensity of the chill in his words.

Eren burned with fire.

But Levi pierced with ice.

And Carlton feared the worst.

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><p>There was a veil of red, Eren would later remember, that was thrown over his eyes and over any part of his mind that might have been coherent. It had been laced in every word he spoke. It had released copious amounts of adrenaline into his system. It wanted nothing more than to fight.<p>

And it disappeared at the sound of his slamming door.

Eren broke. Without the veil of anger, his tirade shredded away to nothing, leaving nothing but carnage and ruin behind.

He gasped and collapsed to the floor, his legs too weak to support him anymore. His heart thrashed wildly and he hyperventilated, gasping with every weak breath. Tears openly cascaded down his face, leaving behind puffy eyes and streaked cheeks. Panic coursed through his body like an epidemic.

The anger was gone. Eren couldn't feel it anymore after that outburst. The adrenaline shocked his system into complete alertness, though he knew it was only temporary. As coherent thought flowed through him, the full realization of what had just happened slammed into him, threatening to crush every bone in his body.

The words spoken.

The words yelled.

The words laced with venom and the intent to tear the other apart.

He couldn't hold it back. Eren sobbed loudly, tearing at his hair and curling in on himself, fueled by feelings of shame, regret, and fear.

_Oh God, what had he done?_

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><p><strong>This scene hurt me… It really did…<strong>

**Anywho… Now that I've written that I hope all of you will review telling me how much you hate me for that fight :D Do it. Review. I dare you.**

**I hope you enjoyed the rest of the chapter :D**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


	8. A Whole Lot of Somethings

**Just letting you guys know that all those reviews you left me about last chapter… Yeah, they give me life. Torment via unfulfilled otp romance is what I live for…**

**And hey, hey, hey guess what! :D This story is now on AO3 too. I should probably change my profile to include the link there… -shrugs and continues to do nothing of importance- So if you like reading on AO3 better then you can go there instead!**

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><p><strong>ALSO SUPER IMPORTANT THING LIKE REALLY SUPER IMPORTANT<strong>**- There is a VEEEEEEEEEERY high chance that I won't be updating next Monday, aka chapter 9, because I will be driving AAAAALL day. Then unpacking. Then probably sleeping. I may have time but don't get your hopes up.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8: A Whole Lot of Somethings<strong>

For a good half hour, Eren could do nothing but sob pathetically on the floor.

Why did his anger have to flare up then?

Why did he have to be too exhausted to think rationally?

Why did he have to be so fucking stupid?

Why?

Why?!

WHY?!

The only relieving thing about the fight was that Eren hadn't gotten physical in his rage. The worst part, in regards to that though, was that now Eren's hands were incredibly sore. Crescent moons that were nearly dripping blood covered his palms from clenching his fists so hard. But biting through the pain, Eren knew that he was lucky. If he'd gone further, those fists might have been bleeding in other places… like his knuckles.

Even so…

The fight played over and over in Eren's head in excruciatingly brutal detail. Every word said and how it was said. He hadn't meant to say any of those things to Levi, really he hadn't. As much as he hated being here and as much as he disliked Levi, he really didn't want to say things like that to him. The words he'd thrown at Levi were far too harsh, and he couldn't take them back no matter how much he wished he could. He didn't think Levi was a freak or a midget with a cleaning disorder… He didn't. He really, truly didn't.

But Levi had been pretty harsh too… He said a lot of awful things to Eren… He always said awful things to Eren…

…_it basically goes without saying that often times people's first impression of him is that he's rude and just wants to put everyone down…_

But that wasn't true for Eren! Levi was actually insulting him and making him feel like shit! Everything he said was some way to try and hurt Eren with words! He always shot jabs at Eren whenever he could! Even if he tried to keep it hidden from Carlton, there would still be times where he would let out subtle, backhanded comments to Eren!

…_but that's only because he's frank about everything. He doesn't like to sugar coat anything. Mix that with his love of swearing and other family inappropriate words…_

It couldn't be true! Eren wasn't wrong about this! He was sure of it! Levi legitimately wanted Eren to suffer! Just because he doesn't sugar coat things doesn't mean that he never threw insults! He was always fighting with Eren and never once tried to change that!

_I have tried to fucking make this work!_

It wasn't true!

_You're the one who's shut everyone off here!_

It wasn't true!

_You're the one who's started every fucking fight we've had!_

It…

It couldn't be true…

Could it?

Eren calmed down enough, sniffing and wiping at his eyes with his hands. He thought back to his fights with Levi.

The first one: the one about Levi's bedroom. Well… Yeah, okay, Eren could take the blame for that one. Who wouldn't get upset about someone trying to sneak into your room? Plus he just kept egging him on with that cocky "fiancé" shit. So that was definitely Eren… But he still believed that Levi overreacted…

The second one: that one was out by the car right? That was Levi! He was sure of it! Levi had just come out and expected him to tell him all of his worries. No, fuck that shit. And he asked in a really rude way! But… that's just part of his personality right? So of course it would seem rude… And what if he was actually worried for Eren then…? … Let's just say that one's a draw.

The third one: that's the one that the gardener overheard… the one in the tree… Once again Levi had been rude… after Eren had blatantly ignored him… and Levi was only trying to get him to follow the rules… which Eren had blatantly ignored… And then after that, when Levi asked him to dinner they actually had a semi-decent conversation. And Levi had once again tried to talk to Eren and figure out what was wrong.

Eren thought more and more of the events that had taken place over the course of the few short days he'd been here. Every interaction he and Levi had. Every fight. Every conversation that somehow hadn't turned into a fight. And it wasn't looking good. Eren clutched his head from all of the thinking. The truth was forcing its way through and Eren could do nothing but pathetically bat at it while sobbing even more.

Because if that was true, if Levi had almost never instigated a fight, then why had they always been fighting? Levi couldn't be right about that too, could he? He wasn't actually upset only because of the marriage, right? It's not like Levi had nothing to do with it, right? He wouldn't do the same thing if it had been someone else, right?

It couldn't be true.

It just couldn't!

Levi was an asshole!

Levi hated him!

Levi…

He…

He was right…

And it hurt to admit that. It really did. Levi was fucking right. About fucking everything.

Eren had been so obsessed with the idea of hating the marriage that he couldn't accept that it could be anything but the worst possible thing that could ever happen. He was so convinced that this arrangement was going to be horrible to the point where he unconsciously blocked out anything that didn't fit with his image of what it was going to be. So when Levi had tried to be civil, and even nice, Eren could only see what he thought he should be seeing.

Levi understood him better than he understood himself. Eren should have known that from last night. And he sobbed for another 10 minutes, because being wrong sucked. Being wrong for days on end sucked. And finding out you were wrong for so long sucked the worst.

Eren knew what he had to do now. It was going to be even worse than admitting he had been wrong. It was going to be a hell of a lot more dangerous too. It was probably going to take more courage, strength, and charisma than Eren actually had to use.

He had to apologize to Levi.

* * *

><p>It took another 10 minutes for Eren to find his courage among the broken pieces of himself.<p>

Before going back downstairs where Levi may or may not be, Eren decided that it was probably best if he took off his shoes now. Between the fighting and crying, Eren had forgotten about his muddy shoes. He also ended up changing pants since the mud from his shoes, which were still sort of wet, had smeared all over his pants. He also washed his face off a bit. While it only helped a little with his red, tear stained cheeks and puffy eyes, at least he looked like less of a hot mess.

As Eren cautiously left his room, he side stepped the now drying mud tracks in the carpet and winced. His mother had always yelled at him for tracking mud into the house and specifically the carpet because it was so hard to get out. He just hoped the maids knew how to clean mud easily…

Eren headed to the scene of the crime. It was probably unlikely that Levi would be hanging around such a mess, especially for 40 minutes. But, as the party room came into view, there Levi was, facing away from Eren and scrubbing frantically at the floor on his hands and knees. The mud on the marble floor all the way from the door to the stairs had been scraped up and now Levi was cleaning up the last remains of mud via washcloth and what looked like simple soapy water. He had only just started, though.

Eren forced his beating heart to slow down, or at least tried, and resisted the urge to bite his thumb. It would do no good to be nervous about this. He had to do it no matter what. He had to apologize for what he'd done. The thought didn't exactly make him feel better, but it did strengthen his conviction. And good thing too, otherwise Eren wasn't sure how he'd have been able to move forward and not run back to his room with his tail between his legs.

He bit his lip and wrung his hands together, trying to calm himself down still. His steps were tentative and wary, careful not to startle or invoke any more negative emotions, like rage, from Levi, but they were just loud enough so that when Eren was close enough, Levi noticed.

"I don't want to see your face right now. Leave me alone," Levi forced out, not even glancing in Eren's general direction. Eren couldn't place the emotion behind Levi's voice, but as far as he could tell, it wasn't rage or anger. It just sounded strained. Eren tried to speak, but the words only piled up right in the back of his throat, creating an uncomfortable lump he could feel. But Levi wasn't feeling particularly patient. "Oi, I said leav-"

"I'm sorry!" Eren blurted, the clump of words finally tumbling out. Levi still didn't look up, but he stopped scrubbing the floors and his grip on the washcloth tightened. Eren continued, although this time a lot more delicate and apologetic. "I'm sorry for all of the things I said to you. Especially what I said today… That was… really uncalled for." He took in a shaky breath. "And you were right. I was only mad about the whole… marriage thing. And I was taking it out on you and everyone around me, and that wasn't fair of me. No one deserved that… You didn't deserve that. And… I'm sorry…"

For several seconds, neither of them moved. Levi was so still that Eren almost thought he'd transformed into a statue. Finally, Levi let out a long sigh.

"Alright." Alright? That's all he got?

"Alright? That's it? Alright? No!" Courage surged through Eren and he daringly crossed over the line of dried mud and placed himself in front of Levi. Levi finally looked up at Eren, confused but very annoyed. "No, you can't just say al-fucking-right to me like that! That's not fair!"

"What exactly do you want me to say?"

"I don't know!" Eren yelled, cutting off whatever Levi was going to say next. "Yell at me! Cuss me out! Punch me in the fucking face! Do something! I feel fucking shitty about this!"

"If you think I've forgiven you-!"

"I don't know if you have! You haven't said anything about forgiving me! You haven't told me anything!"

"Oh, well then join the fucking club." Eren's stomach dropped with guilt. Levi continued when Eren didn't respond right away. "I don't want to yell at you Eren," he informed, softer than before. "I'm fucking tired of fighting with you. It's solving nothing."

Eren kneeled down in front of Levi, staring straight into his eyes. "Then let me help. Let me help clean this up."

"Oh yeah, now you offer. Now that all the hard work has been done…" Eren could hear the sarcasm, but now that his mind wasn't so clouded with anger it was easy to tell that there was no real malicious intent within the words. Now Eren felt even worse because it was so obvious. Especially after hearing what that voice sounded like when there _was_ real malic in it.

"Well, you're not done yet. Besides, you shouldn't have to clean it up at all. It's my mess. I should clean it up. Actually, why don't just let me clean up the rest?" It wouldn't be much, but that would help him make it up to Levi.

"Yeah, right," Levi scoffed. "You'll probably just fuck it up." Eren actually snickered at that, shocking both of them in the process. But Eren went along with it.

"Yeah, probably." After all, domestic housework was never Eren's strong point. Ever. "But how will I ever learn if I don't practice?"

Levi scrutinized Eren through confused, narrowed eyes. He looked at Eren like one would a difficult puzzle they were trying to solve. Then, he jerked his head in the direction of the stairs. "Go get a rag."

It would probably be the only time in Eren's life that he would squeal with joy at the thought of cleaning. Granted, the only reason he was so happy was because Levi didn't kick him out like Eren thought that he would.

Since Eren didn't actually know where a linen closet might be, he went straight to his bathroom. There were sure to be washcloths there. By the time he'd found a washcloth and made it back to the party room Levi had already moved a couple more feet. He worked quickly.

"Work on the stairs and we'll meet up in the middle," Levi ordered as Eren dunked his washcloth in the sudsy water. At least that's what it looked like.

"What is this?" Eren asked out of curiosity, heading towards the stairs.

"It's just soap and water. It won't burn your hands, don't worry." Eren nodded, accepting the answer and got to work on the stairs. A comfortable silence befell them as they worked, Eren going back over a couple of times for more soapy water, but didn't last too long. "So…" Eren began once they were closer so they didn't have to shout. "Why are you even cleaning this up? Don't the maids do that?"

"None of the servants live here, so none of them stay the night. They were all gone and at home with their families by the time you tromped through here with your filthy shoes. And I certainly wasn't going to leave this big of a mess to just sit here overnight. This isn't a pigsty," Levi scoffed, keeping his eyes trained on his work. But even so, he couldn't help but ask, "Why were you even walking through the house with muddy shoes anyway?"

"Well…" Eren paused, thinking. He could be honest without telling the whole truth right? "To be honest, I didn't even realize that I was inside until you yelled at me… I kind of zoned out there… Sorry…"

"Yeah, no kidding."

"You clean really fast," Eren commented, mesmerized by how they were almost done. Levi was already a few feet away from him.

"I've cleaned a lot. You get good at it after a while."

"So it's true? You really do like to clean?"

"It's calming for me." Levi stopped to give Eren a pointed glare. "Most of the time, anyway."

There was going to be nothing left of Eren but guilt by the end of this conversation, Eren just knew it. "Sorry… So… Why did you wait so long to clean it up?"

"It's better to clean up mud after it's dried. Easier too." Levi pushed the bucket to Eren. "Dump that out and fill it back up with water. And give me your washcloth."

Eren did as he was told, hauling the heavy bucket of water into the kitchen to dump out the dirty water for fresh, clean water. When he came back, Levi was waiting with a mop.

"What are you gonna do?" Eren set the bucket next to Levi.

"I'm rising the floor of the soapy water," Levi responded, dunking the mop into the bucket.

"Where's my mop?"

"As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, it's not really a two person job." Levi got right to work on mopping up the soapy floor.

"Oh…" Eren trailed off, feeling a little bit left out. Levi was right, though, there wasn't really all that much more that Eren could do, but that didn't stop him from wanting to help. Besides…

"You don't have to stand there you know. It's late. You should go to bed," Levi suggested.

"Why are you okay with this?" Eren questioned suddenly. Levi paused for a moment.

"Cleaning? I think we already went over this."

"No, no! Not that. The marriage."

The air around them turned dense. A quick hush fell over them with the tension.

"Oh, that." Levi let out a heavy sigh, leaning against the mop in his hands as he thought. "It's not that I'm okay with it, necessarily. It's more that I've accepted it. Like how some people accept their fate of saving the world even if they don't want to, I have accepted my fate of being forced into a marriage with a whiney brat that throws temper tantrums." Levi smirked teasingly at Eren, who glared playfully in response.

"Oh ha ha." Eren sobered, though, along with the air. "So, you were never upset or angry about it? You just kind of… accepted it?"

"Fuck no!" Levi started mopping again, this time with a little more force. "I hated this stupid idea when I was a younger. Why the hell should I marry some idiot I don't know? I didn't want to be forced into a relationship with anyone I didn't choose."

"So what happened?" Eren sat back against one of the walls of the room as Levi talked.

"I… I just realized that it wouldn't do me any good if I wasted all my time hating something I can't change," Levi shrugged. "Besides, at least this way I won't have to worry about whether or not the person I choose only wants me for my money." It sounded to Eren like there was a story behind his reasoning, but he had enough common sense not to ask now. Levi might tell him in time if they get closer.

"I guess that's true… I never really had to worry about that. But I bet that really sucks…" It was at times like these where Eren was happy no one knew of his family's money.

"So what about you?" Levi finished up the mopping and gathered up the cleaning supplies. "Is there any specific reason why you hate this marriage?"

"Not really. It's really just for the same reasons as you. I didn't want to marry someone I didn't choose. I want to fall in love." Eren said the last part more to himself than to Levi, but Levi heard it anyway.

"I guess it's a double blow too since you have to marry someone older than you too, huh?" Eren had to think about it for a moment. He'd actually forgotten that Levi was at least 8 years older than him. Was he just too focused on everything else about the marriage or did he really just not care about age difference?

"Actually… The age was never something that bothered me… I wonder why…"

Another silence wrapped itself around them. Eren contemplating his indifference on their age, and Levi watching him awkwardly.

"You want something to eat?" Levi asked out of the blue. "I think there's still some leftovers from lunch."

Eren jumped out of his thoughts. "Uh, sure?"

"Alright." Levi left, taking the cleaning supplies back to where they belonged (Eren didn't know where though). When he came back, Levi had two plates. Giving one to Eren, Levi sat down next to him. Eren eyed his food curiously.

"A panini?"

"Yeah, I said leftover lunch remember?"

"It's cold," Eren commented, poking the sandwich.

"That's the best kind of leftovers."

"I wouldn't have taken you for a cold leftovers type of person. Or a leftovers type of person in general."

"Why? Cause I have chefs cook my meals for me?"

"Well… Yeah. I mean, aren't you always eating like… caviar and fancy shit like that?" Levi straightened up where he sat and faced Eren.

"Okay, first of all, caviar is disgusting as fuck. Second of all, leftovers are delicious as fuck. No work has to go into leftovers since it's already cooked and prepared, and on several occasions, cold leftovers are even better than when they were first made and piping hot. Like ham. A cold, leftover ham sandwich is better than anything that has shitty caviar in it, hands down."

Eren tried to hold it in, but no matter how hard he tried, snickers came out.

"Are you fucking laughing at me?" Levi glared. "Don't fucking judge me, leftovers are fucking delicious."

"N-No… That's not why I'm laughing… You just… You just went on a rant about leftovers! And you were so serious too!" Eren managed between holding back his laughter. "Do you do that a lot?"

"Tch… Of course not…" Levi grumbled, turning away from Eren and stuffing his face full of cold panini. Eren chuckled, guessing that, yes, Levi probably did do that a lot. Or at least more than he'd care to admit.

"By the way," Eren spoke up after a bite of his panini. "I do agree with you. I love leftovers, too."

"Fucking good."

"So… Are we not gonna clean the carpet then?"

"Nope."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Cleaning carpet is a bigger pain in the ass than hard floors. Plus it's not as big of a mess as the ballroom was. The maids can handle it. And I'm too tired to do anything more anyway." Levi brushed off with a wave of his hand.

"Ballroom?!" Eren exclaimed suddenly, then he blushed. "Oh…"

"What? You didn't know this was called the ballroom?" Eren shook his head, becoming more embarrassed with every second that passed. "What the hell did you think it was called?"

"I've, uh… just been calling it the… the party room…" he admitted shamefully.

"How- Just… How did you not know that?" Levi sputtered, baffled.

"Well, your dad told me during the tour but… well I wasn't really listening all that well…"

"Of course…" Levi rolled his eyes. "Party room… Seriously?"

"Oh shut up…"

"I'm never letting you live that down you know."

"It's basically the same thing!"

"No, they're not. A party room is for little kids and shit. A ballroom is classy and for grown-ups. So obviously you're not allowed in here."

"Hey!"

Eren lightly shoved Levi on the shoulder, to which Levi responded with another shove. They stared at each other before both chuckling lightly and finished the rest of their sandwiches in comfortable silence. It was the most comfortable silence Eren had felt since coming here, and it was really nice. Talking with Levi was surprisingly really nice.

"Hey, Levi?" Eren prodded after they'd finished their food.

"Hmm?"

"Why is this place so big?"

"Because that's how my grandfather had it built to be. He built it specifically so that all of his family would be able to live here for generations."

"Your grandpa built this place?" Eren asked, wide eyed.

"No. He had it built. My grandfather isn't the hardworking type unless it comes to business. My grandmother probably would've built it if she had the skill to, though. She loves DIY projects and shit like that."

"Oh… And they live here?" Levi nodded. "Oh, so… where are they? I haven't seen them around."

"Back to back business trips. They won't get back for a couple more weeks. I believe that was also explained the first night you were here, but now I can assume that you probably don't know much of anything since you have the attention span of a goldfish."

"That's not the right saying," Eren chastised, playfully. "It's the attention span of a squirrel and the memory of a goldfish. You can't mix the two together."

"With you I can," Levi sighed. He let his head fall back against the wall Eyes fixed on nothing in particular, he confessed, "I'm actually glad that my grandparents aren't here this week, though. My grandfather would not have put up with your shit for as long as I had. He would have kicked you out, quite literally, if he had been here for our fight. The wedding would have been called off right then and there and he'd probably get a restraining order too." Well shit.

"Sounds like a swell guy…" Sarcasm was evident in Eren's voice, as well as a tint of fear.

"Super swell. And don't get any ideas, alright. My grandfather is the last person in a one thousand mile radius that you want to piss off. If he called off the marriage because you fought with me, he would ruin your name, ruin your father's business and then buy it out from him for dirt cheap, and then ruin your family's chances of ever getting another semi-well-paying job again. And by family I mean you, your father, your mother. Even your future children could be affected, depending on how badly you pissed him off. Seriously. Don't. Do it." Well double shit. Eren couldn't make any promises, but he'd at least try not to fuck up with Levi's grandpa. At least he didn't have to meet him for another good couple of weeks.

"Shit… Well that would suck…" Getting out of the marriage wasn't worth having his whole family's life get fucked up.

"Yup." Levi made no move to get up, so Eren figured maybe now he could get some answers out of Levi. Little things that he'd been curious about.

"So… Why do you, your dad, and your grandparents all live together?"

"So my grandfather could keep a close eye on me and raise me "correctly". As if my dad couldn't do it himself. As the heir to the entire Voclain fortune and business, he wanted to make sure that I understood from an early age what it would take to run the family business when I took over. Something my father didn't have the privilege of knowing."

"You're father isn't going to take over the company? Oh! I'm sorry… That probably was really personal wasn't it?" Wow, way to delve into a topic you probably shouldn't delve into, Eren. He really should learn to think before he speaks…

"It's alright. It's family business and since you're going to be part of the family… My grandfather never intended for my father to have control over the company. He always envisioned that his grandchild, me, would take over, so my grandfather has arranged it so that all the rights to the company and the entirety of the family fortune will fall to me at his time of choosing."

Stunned, Eren could only gape at Levi. "That… That seems really harsh…" Levi only shrugged.

"That's Grandfather for you." With the way he said everything, it seemed like Levi could really care less about any of this. All of his words were blunt and matter-of-fact, and to be honest, it sort of disturbed Eren. How could he be so… nonchalant about this?

"But… To his own son?"

"I guess he just never expected much from my father. He never saw my father as someone who was able to take control of the company and keep it going strong. Maybe he thought my grandmother would be too strong of an influence on him. And really that's exactly what happened. He sort of fulfilled his own prophecy because he never paid all that much attention to my father's education like he did with me. So instead of running the company, my father works as the head of one of the sects of the company."

"And then he made your dad live here?"

"He built this mansion with the idea that my father and mother would live here while I was being raised so that he could raise me himself while still giving my father the illusion that he was raising me. It sounds harsh, but that's my grandfather."

From what Levi was saying, nothing made sense. How was Levi's dad okay with this? Carlton's dad basically just ignored him but then gave all of his devotion to his grandson. Simply off the idea that maybe Carlton wouldn't be fit for the job. And then he forced his own son to live with him for his entire adult life? With his wife? How…? But wait…

"So… No, never mind. I've pried enough." Eren shook his head, deciding that, regardless of how tactless he was, that question was probably way too personal.

"No, ask," Levi goaded. "Come on, tell me what you want to know; I'm willing to answer. Unless you're going to ask if we do virgin sacrifices. Then don't ask." Virgin sacrifice… Sounds like a question that could legitimately be asked to Connie…

"Um… You said that your grandpa built this place so that your mom and dad could live here but… I haven't seen your mom either?" Please don't say she's dead. Please don't say she's dead. Please don't say she's dead. Eren would feel like the worst piece of scum to ever grace the Earth if he brought up memories of Levi's dead mother only hours after having the worst fight they'd ever had.

"Divorced." Levi flashed a wry smile. "Why? Thought she was dead?" Eren's blush gave away his answer. "No, she's not dead, though I'm pretty sure my grandfather wishes she was."

"Really? Why?"

"She pissed him off."

"How?"

"The divorce."

"Why'd they divorce?"

"Man, you sure do take advantage when someone gives you permission to ask as many questions as you want." Levi chuckled when Eren blushed again and mumbled another apology. "It's alright. My mother married my father for his money, basically. But after I was born she found out that all of the fortune and power would fall to me and not her husband so… she left. She tried to bargain for half of the family assets during the divorce, including the business and fortune, but Grandfather had a better lawyer and more power. Not to mention that there was no way in Heaven, Hell, or the entirety of space and time that she would ever be able to lay a finger on the business and fortune since she could only bargain for what my father owned and had rights to. And since my father had no ownership or rights to what she wanted, she couldn't get it. Dumb bitch."

"So, then does she know about the marriage? You know… our marriage?"

"Who's other marriage would you be talking about? And no, thank fuck. When I said that she left after I was born, I mean she literally filed for divorce a couple days after she popped me out. She tried to take me along with her, but like I said, my grandfather had better lawyers. So, she had already been cut off from us by the time that agreement had been made. If she did find out, no doubt she would do anything she could to exploit the shit out of it in hopes of getting her greedy hands on something that isn't hers." A small spark of apprehension flickered in Eren.

"Should I be worried?"

"Probably not. She's a smart and cunning woman, but not enough to get anywhere. Now let's stop talking about me." Levi twisted himself so that he was facing Eren expectantly. "I want to know more about you."

Huh? Levi wanted to know more about Eren? Really? But he wasn't all that interesting. Especially after Levi's stories. Although, Levi had wanted to know more about Eren since the beginning…

"Uh, like what?" Eren shifted nervously, not used to the attention.

"Well, what's your family like?" An eye for an eye. Eren got to know more about Levi's family so it was only fair that Levi got to know more about Eren's.

"Well… There's me, my mom, my dad, and my sister. My mom stays at home and she's really nice, though a little overprotective sometimes. My sister is even worse when it comes to being overprotective though. I love her and all, but she took after my mom way too much. She was here just yesterday too."

Levi perked up, curious. He hadn't seen anyone that resembled Eren yesterday. "Really? Who?"

"The girl with the red scarf. I don't know if you saw her…"

"Her?! –Oh… Huh…" Levi let his eyes wander off to the side contemplatively. Eren threw his hands up.

"Wait! Let me guess!" Eren interrupted boldly. "You thought she was my girlfriend didn't you?" He pointed an accusing finger at Levi, smirking because he knew he was right.

"Of course not!" Levi scoffed, brushing it off in the same way someone would if they didn't want to admit they were wrong. "You're not allowed to date, after all…"

"But you thought she would be if I could date right?" Eren laughed, shaking his head. "It's not an uncommon thought. We've had way too many comments about how cute a couple we are… It's really fucking annoying… And she's my age so it makes it even worse…"

"The joys of having adopted siblings… She is adopted, right? I don't see how she wouldn't be, but you never know…"

"Yes, she is adopted. My parents adopted her when we were nine to my insistence due to… the situation." Eren turned away, suddenly very serious.

"The situation…?" This was worrying Levi.

"Well, it's still technically being resolved in court and there's all this stuff with the hospital and the therapists so I'm not allowed to say anything to protect the innocent or whatever…" Eren trailed off.

"… Wait really? Are you fucking serious?" Levi pulled at Eren's shoulder, forcing them to be face to face again. Concern and confusion filling up every feature of Levi's face. A grin burst across Eren's face, despite his efforts of subduing it, and he laughed like a madman.

"Haha, no! No, I'm just kidding!" Eren tried to explain himself, but Levi's expression had him rolling in laughter again. He had to take deep breaths to calm himself down enough to talk again so he could explain. "Her parents were close friends with mine, but they died in a car accident, and since she didn't have other living relatives I decided she should live with us."

Levi took a moment, or several, to ponder Eren softly before speaking again. "You are surprisingly nice… even though you're a fucking dick!" Levi glared at Eren and pushed his shoulder. "Shit you really had me worried that you killed three guys or something!"

"Uh, thanks? And sorry! I just couldn't resist."

"So what about your dad?"

Eren bit his lip. "Me and my dad haven't seen eye to eye in a long time…"

"Wait!" Levi mimicked Eren. "Let me guess! It was because of the marriage." Eren looked away, embarrassed, giving way his answer. "I knew it."

"Yeah, I was mad at him for that… I'm still mad about it actually…"

"Really? I had no idea… You do a fabulous job at hiding that."

"Oh, shut up…"

"And what about your friends?"

"Hey! No fair! I didn't ask you about your friends so you don't get to ask me about mine yet."

"Excuse me, but there were no rules about what the fuck we were gonna talk about. Now let's hear about your friends."

"Well, what about your friends?"

"Hey! I asked you first!"

"Oh you are so full of shit!"

"Duh, everyone is. I'm pretty sure that's how digestion works, Eren."

"I can't believe you…! You fucking…" Eren stuttered then growled in frustration.

"Do you need me to teach you about digestion, Eren?" Levi asked slowly and carefully, making fun of Eren.

"No thanks! Like I want to waste time indulging you, you ass!"

"Yeah, you're right. You still need to tell me about your friends after all."

"Maybe tomorrow…" Eren was cut off by a well-placed yawn, his eyes almost didn't open after out of sheer exhaustion. Weird, he hadn't yawned in a while…

"I'm guessing that's the signal to head to bed? What time is it anyway…?" Levi mumbled to himself, yawning as well. "Shit, it's 2:30. Definitely fucking bedtime." Levi stood, stretching, and made to grab the plates, but Eren stopped him.

"It's okay, I've got them," Eren offered with a small smile. Levi shrugged, too tired to really care at this point.

"Just put them in the sink, alright? No need to wash them or anything. Good night… brat." Levi toddled to the stairs.

"Hey, Levi!" Eren called after him, waiting until Levi had turned around to continue. "I'm sorry for the things I said earlier… And it was really nice talking to you."

Levi, after overcoming the shock, smiled a half smile and walked back. He patted Eren's head gingerly.

"You're forgiven, because it was really nice talking to you too." Levi's smile became more serious and sincere. The most sincere Eren had ever seen Levi be. "And thank you."

That smile resonated within Eren's mind, blocking off any other thoughts. It died down when he realized that Levi was almost gone and he called out a "good night." Levi waved in recognition, and was gone.

At that point, sitting on the floor of the empty ballroom with two equally empty plates in his hands, Eren hated everyone. He hated everyone who had advised him to get to know Levi. Because they were right. He hated himself for not listening to them. Because he was wrong. He hated Levi for being Levi. Because he proved that everyone else was right and Eren was wrong. He hated everyone…

But not really.

He had really enjoyed talking to Levi. There was something about the way he spoke. Something about his body language while talking. Something about the things he'd say. There was even something about the jokes he'd told, even if they were pretty shitty (pun intended). There was something about their conversation that Eren really liked, something that had probably been there before but never acknowledged or even noticeable due to the circumstances. Thanks to Eren's stupidity and stubbornness.

Then, there was something about the happy jitters that Eren would get at the thought of talking to Levi tomorrow. But then there was also something about how abnormally tired he was while talking to and thinking about Levi. More so than usual and more so than before. And then there was something about the feelings Eren had around Levi, or rather, the lack thereof. Something had been missing while he was talking to Levi, while he was helping him clean. Or at least something wasn't as conspicuous as before.

But Eren couldn't figure it out.

He couldn't figure any of this out. All of these somethings were just questions without an answer.

Eren pondered all of this as he set the plates down in the kitchen sink… or at least one of them. He hoped it was the right one. There were three right next to each other, after all. Yawning again, Eren was suddenly hopeful that he might actually get some sleep tonight. And he wouldn't even have to sleep on that uncomfortable bed now that he had his pillow throne. But as he walked up the stairs, past the mud that had now completely dried, and into his room, the anxiety and suffocation and constant alertness that his feeling brought on chased away any thoughts of sleeping. Even after plopping down on the pillow throne.

Eren sighed.

Looks like it was going to be another sleepless night… But he couldn't write. He learned the hard way that writing for hours on end just would not work. So now he had hours to kill and nothing to do. Or did he…?

* * *

><p><strong>WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! They finally conversed like NORMAL human beings! :D Took you long enough Eren… Cause it's mostly your fault tbh<strong>

**As always, reviews are most welcome and much appreciated. And thank you to all of those who've reviewed so far! :D Your comments give me strength.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


	9. Is It Nap Time Yet?

**That… was WAAAAAAY too long a time to not update… But sorely needed T^T I was so busy the week before that I couldn't even write. Even if I wanted to… So I'm glad I got last week to just sort of relax… How weird. I'm busier on break than I am at school…**

**But look! There's this chapter now! :D How joyous.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Is It Nap Time Yet?<strong>

Since Levi didn't have work all week, he decided to turn his alarm off. So, when he finally blinked his eyes open to the bright rays of sunlight streaming in through his window, he shouldn't have been surprised that it was 10:00 am. He should've been even less surprised considering he hadn't fallen asleep until 3:00 am. Hey, he'd gotten a good seven hours of sleep at least. It wasn't like Levi to fall asleep so late though. He usually tried to cut it off at midnight or 1:00 am at the latest.

Damn that brat. He was so unpredictable. Out of all of the things that Levi had expected of Eren, out of all of the scenarios that Levi had come up with while trying to calm down from his fit of rage before he did anything drastic like break down Eren's door and kick him in the face, the last thing he'd expected was for the brat to _apologize_. And Eren didn't just apologize, he apologized and _meant it_. And Eren apologized, meant it, and _helped atone for his mistake_. Even if it meant forcing himself upon Levi and risking making him even angrier.

Levi had to admit, he was sort of impressed.

For one, Levi wasn't even sure if Eren had ever apologized before and meant it. He seemed like the type that would only say sorry to appease the adults in the room so he could leave. Not to mention that doing something like being the first to apologize took great courage and humility, two traits that Levi had believed Eren didn't have. Sure the brat liked to start fights, but there was a big difference between courage and stupidity, a trait that Levi was damn sure Eren had. And the fact that Eren had practically begged Levi to let him help still blew his mind.

Furthermore, if there was anything that Levi had expected less than Eren apologizing, it was Eren striking up a conversation that didn't involve screaming. In fact, before then Levi would have thought himself crazy if he entertained the idea that Eren might want anything to do with Levi that wasn't another yelling match. But, Eren surprised him yet again.

What had changed?

It was blatantly obvious that something had changed in Eren, but Levi couldn't for the life of him understand what it was. The only thing Levi knew was that they'd fought, Eren locked himself in his room for almost an hour, and when he came down he was positively… different. He was nicer. He was considerate. He was curious. Hell, he wasn't taking everything Levi said as some challenge. He laughed.

He smiled.

Eren Jaeger was a mystery. Eren Jaeger was this confusing mess of quirks and traits that had nothing to do with each other. Eren Jaeger was a puzzle with several pieces missing and no picture yet.

But if Eren Jaeger was going to continue with this attitude, then that was one puzzle that Levi might not mind piecing together.

The puzzle wasn't going to be solved by Levi lying in bed, though. So with the hope that Eren would be just as agreeable today as he was last night, Levi dressed and got ready for the day. And stopped just as he left his room.

The mud had been cleaned up. Which was to be expected. The morning staff arrived as his father left for work which was 3 hours ago. But if Levi looked closely enough, it was obvious to tell that mud had been there. How strange. Usually the maids were more meticulous than this, especially with the idea that Levi would know if they hadn't done the job properly. He'd have to talk to them about this.

"Hey!" Levi called out after finding a maid in one of the guest rooms.

"Yes?" she asked, pausing in her work.

"When you are done with your current task I would like you to redo the hallway. There are still faint stains where the mud was." The maid took a sharp intake of breath.

"Mud?" She was absolutely bewildered. "With all due respect, Sir, there was no mud when I got here…" Levi gave her a curious look, and she continued on quickly. "Th-That's not to say that I don't believe you! I'm sure that there was mud there at some point, just… not when I got here…"

Levi continued to stare, just as baffled as the maid. "But you get here at six in the morning. If it wasn't you or any of the other staff… then who…" Something clicked, and Levi trailed off.

"I'll be sure to clean up the stains in the hallway, sir, just as soon as I finish this room." Levi nodded blankly.

"On another note, would you happen to know where Eren, my fiancé, ran off to?"

"I believe he was last seen heading out into the backyard."

"Thank you."

When Levi returned to his room, the first thing he did was look out the window. Sure enough, Eren was in the backyard sitting under the tree he'd taken a liking to. Grabbing a throw blanket and a book, Levi headed out himself. He could only hope Eren wouldn't get mad at him for it like he had yesterday.

"Mind if I join you?" Levi asked, when he reached his destination. Eren jumped, as if he hadn't noticed Levi had even been there despite the fact the he'd stared right at him the entire time.

"Oh, uh… sure…" Eren stood and let Levi lay the blanket down on the ground. It was still a bit muddy so the blanket was much needed in Levi's eyes. Though apparently not in Eren's, whose pants were muddy once again. But it didn't seem like Eren even noticed. It was like he didn't know where exactly he was and really…

"You look half dead," Levi commented bluntly as he sat down on the clean and dry blanket. Eren plopped down beside him. He made a noise that was probably supposed to be a word, and rubbed at his face messily. Levi was becoming a bit worried. "Seriously, are you alright?"

"Mmm… just tired." Eren's words were slurred, and Levi raised an eyebrow. He had a number of dark bag under his eyes and his eyelids drooped so Eren's ocean eyes were only half open. His entire body just sagged like Eren had no strength to hold them up.

""Just tired"? If this is "just tired" then I don't want to see you exhausted."

"Whatever… What are you even doing out here?"

"Trying to spend time with you. That is, after all, what this whole week was supposed to be about." And they'd successfully managed to avoid it for half the week. "And I wanted to know why you cleaned up the rest of the mud."

"I wanted to be nice." Huh. That's not the answer Levi had been expecting. He'd expected the brat to deny it or avoid the question like some kind of modest hero or even brag about it. "Did I do a bad job?"

"A shitty one."

"I bet I did…" Eren groaned.

"But you did a good enough job that the maids couldn't tell. How did you even do it?"

"I don't even remember anymore…"

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Eren didn't answer so Levi took it as a no. "Look, as much as I appreciate the help, you shouldn't sacrifice your sleep for something like that. We have maids for a reason. Besides, if this is how you're going to act after a night of no sleep, then it's really not worth it."

"Mm'kay…" Eren was being far too agreeable, and it was kind of weirding Levi out. "What book are you reading?"

Levi had to stop and think. What book had he brought? He wasn't even looking when he grabbed it. Please don't be the dictionary or something stupid like that. "Hamlet." Hamlet? Really? Fucking fantastic. How clichéd to bring fucking Shakespeare.

"We're reading that in class… Or we're going to after break…"

"I see. Are you looking forward to that?"

"I don't know," Eren shrugged. "Have you read it before? Is it good?"

"No, actually, I haven't. I've heard it's good, though."

"I heard that The Lion King was based off of Hamlet. I wonder if that's true."

"The only way to find out is to read it. Or pretend to read it until your teacher tells you what it means."

"Will you read it to me?"

"Right now?" Eren nodded. "Uh… Alright…" As Levi began to read, he felt Eren shift closer until his head was practically resting on Levi's shoulder. Levi paused, stiffening up. He wasn't exactly a cuddler for people who were still practically strangers… Or even most of his friends. The only friend who did 'cuddle' with him was Hanji and most of the time it was forced and Hanji ended up hurt. "What are you doing?"

"It's easier for me to read along like this." Just grin and bear it, Levi. He'll probably get bored after the first couple of pages. Besides, he's nice and warm- stop. There's no need for thoughts like that just yet. Just because they had been really friendly last night doesn't mean that now was the time for even more feelings to emerge. These things are supposed to take time, damn it.

So Levi continued on reading, and sure enough, after a couple of pages Eren was no longer listening. Just not in the way Levi had expected. Eren's head was now fully resting on Levi's shoulder and since his head was so close to Levi's ear, Levi could hear soft snoring.

The brat had fallen asleep on him!

"Oi, brat! I did not agree to read to you just so you could fucking fall asleep on me! I'm not a pillow!" Levi nudged his shoulder into Eren's cheek, but all he accomplished was pushing Eren off so that his head was now resting in Levi's lap.

Fuck.

"Oi! Brat! Wake up!" Levi shook Eren by the shoulder roughly, but Eren still didn't wake up. The only thing Eren did was shift around so he was in a more comfortable position…

By wrapping his arms around Levi's waist.

Well.

This wasn't good.

Levi shook Eren again to no avail. No matter how much Levi shook Eren or yelled, that boy was not waking up anytime soon. Levi began to panic a bit on the inside, not that he would show it.

"I would just let him be, Lil' Master."

Levi jerked up curiously to see a familiar face. "And why on Earth would I do that, Chef Hannes? And why are you even out here? Shouldn't you be preparing lunch instead of poking your nose in places where your nose has no business being?"

Hannes laughed. "I suppose'a should, shouldn't I? Ah… I was just worried about our little friend here." Levi glanced down at Eren again. Why would Hannes be worried about Eren? "He came into my kitchen this morning looking like death smacked him around with a baseball bat a couple times. Especially around his eyes." Yeah, he really did look terrible. "I heard a rumor that Eren cleaned up some mud from the carpet upstairs last night… Would that have anything to do with it?"

"This morning," Levi grumbled. "And yes. He was apparently up all night last night."

"Yeah, that'll do it. I'm curious as to why there was mud on the carpet, though."

"You can ask Eren once he wakes up… if he wakes up, that is."

"Poor kid…"

"Stupid brat is more like it." Levi resisted the urge to grind his fist into Eren's skull. "I told him that he didn't have to clean it up. I told him that we were going to leave that for the maids. But he just had to play hero and screw himself over like that. It's his own damn fault."

"Are you sure about that?" Hannes had a strangely serious face on as he asked.

"… What do you mean?"

"Well, he usually gets coffee in the morning, right?"

"Most people do, yes."

Hannes sighed and shrugged. "I guess'a just don't think he would be so tired after the loss of one night's sleep is all." He didn't give Levi a chance to retort. "Just let him sleep for a while. He'll wake up eventually."

"And what exactly am I supposed to tell him when he wakes up in my lap?"

"I never said you had to stay out here with him." Hannes chuckled as he sauntered back inside. Levi glared after him.

"Tch… I can't just leave him out here… My father would only yell at me for avoiding him…" Not to mention Levi would actually feel the tiniest bit guilty if he just left Eren now.

This situation was not looking good.

He was stuck outside with a teenage boy who refused to wake up and his only source of entertainment was a clichéd book he grabbed at random. Why the hell did he even have Hamlet to begin with? When did he get it? Not to mention Chef Hannes' words were going to plague his thoughts the entire time as well.

Was there something that Chef Hannes knew that Levi didn't? Did Eren tell him something? It would make sense. It would be very much like Eren to put more trust and friendship into one of the hired help rather than his fiancé… it doesn't sound like it when it's phrased like that, but it really does make sense in this situation.

But did this mean that Eren wasn't getting enough sleep every night? Or at least on other nights? It would explain some of Eren's more questionable behavior. Although, Eren had said that he'd been sleeping fine when asked… but Levi couldn't really trust Eren's answers from before last night, could he? Not with previous severe distrust and projected hate towards everything. But could he trust Eren's answers now? Now that he'd begun to let down the walls that he'd built around himself? Now that he was apparently comfortable enough (or simply just tired enough) to fall asleep snuggled up against Levi? When Eren woke up, Levi would have to test that.

If Eren woke up.

With nothing better to do, Levi decided that since he had a book he might as well read it. He paused, however, when he glimpsed Eren's face.

He looked… different. The forever creased brow of his was smoothed out to the point where if Levi didn't know any better he might've believed that it had never been creased. His closed eyes were gentle and still. He had surprisingly long lashes for a guy who put on such a tough front, too. And his mouth was relaxed and not downturned to the point where Levi swore his face was going to freeze like that. His lips looked surprisingly soft too. Were they naturally like that? Had he even heard of Chap Stick? Oh the things you notice when you're stalkingly watching your fiancé as he sleeps unknowingly on your lap.

Oh but his mouth was open…

Levi cringed as he started reading his book, trying not to focus on it.

Open mouths meant drool, and if that brat drooled Levi was throwing him off before the first drop could drip past his lips.

Hopefully this Hamlet guy wouldn't be as annoying.

* * *

><p>About an hour later, Levi'd had enough of this Hamlet prince.<p>

All he did was bitch and moan about his damn uncle and mother, but did he do anything? No… All he wanted to do was act crazy and monologue like a bitch.

Levi was damn glad when Chef Hannes came out to inform them that lunch was ready. After lunch he was getting a new book. Preferably one without such a bitch for a main character. Fuck Shakespeare.

Of course, then Levi realized that Chef Hannes was carrying a tray of food.

Was he bringing lunch to Levi and Eren? Was he expecting them to eat outside? Levi hoped not.

"I brought you your lunch."

Fuck.

"Why?" Levi snapped lightly, putting the book down. "Isn't lunch supposed to be inside?"

"I just figured that Eren would probably want to sleep for a bit longer," Hannes shrugged, trying not to smile at the adorable sight of Eren snuggling up against Levi.

"He can sleep after lunch," Levi grunted before going to wake up Eren. "Eren." Levi shook Eren's shoulder. "Eren!" Again and again, Levi attempted to wake Eren up, but to no avail. Eren was out cold and didn't even so much as twitch an eye.

Now Hannes was really trying to keep from smiling. "Shall I set this down next to you?"

"No! I'll just leave him out here until I finish lunch."

"Are you sure you want to leave him without his pillow?" Hannes may have found that little joke funny, but Levi wasn't laughing.

"I don't care. Hell, it might even wake him up." But as he pulled at the arms encircling his waist, Levi found that leaving Eren might not actually be an option. "Fucking-! Hell-! What the fuck?! He won't let go!" It made no sense to Levi. Eren just wouldn't release his hold on Levi. If anything, Eren's grip only tightened with each pull of the arm.

Levi let out an exasperated sigh, hanging his head in defeat. This brat just wanted to make his life hell, didn't he? Hannes set the tray of food down next to Levi.

"I'll come back for the dishes." Levi didn't like that smug smile on Chef Hannes' face. Damn him. Damn Eren. Levi lightly thumped Eren on the head as a small sort of payback and a small attempt at hopefully waking Eren up.

It didn't work.

But damn… His hair was really soft. Levi quickly drew his hand back and clenched his fist harder, resisting the now very heavy urge to pet Eren's hair. It was bad enough that he had to notice weird things while being stuck under a tree with Eren. He didn't need to start being touchy feely.

Levi just had to eat lunch and make it through until Eren woke up.

"Damn it," Levi mumbled to himself. "I should have asked Chef Hannes to get me another book."

* * *

><p>This was not a good day.<p>

No matter how Carlton looked at it, there was just no way he could fix this on his own. He'd seen the fight Eren and Levi had last night. He knew just how bad the situation was. Both Levi and Eren were now refusing to honor the agreement, and with the insults that had flown at each other he knew that there was no way he'd be able to resolve this with just a couple phrases to calm them down. Eren couldn't care less about anything Carlton had to say, and it was obvious that his own son didn't respect Carlton enough to listen at this point.

If only Carlton's parents hadn't left for those business trips. Levi listened to his grandfather. Levi respected his grandfather. Eren probably wouldn't listen to Carlton's father, but Carlton's mother had quite the ability when it came to talking with other people so maybe she could do something.

And even worse, in all of his thoughts about what he should do, Carlton had neglected just about all of his work. In all honesty, it probably would have been better if he'd just skipped work today and stayed home to demand that those two work it out. Surely a good night's sleep would calm them down. But Carlton didn't possess the assertive quality that was needed for a situation like this. And even if he did, it's not like he would know how to solve the problem.

Forcing them to talk would probably only result in more fighting. In fact, forcing them to do anything would be disastrous in every way imaginable.

Perhaps Levi would listen if Carlton reminded him of his grandfather's wishes. That might work. Carlton could tell Levi to wait until his grandfather returned home and then they could work the situation out from there. It wasn't the best plan, but it was all he had.

But what was he going to do with Eren…? That boy refused to talk to anyone more than necessary, and Carlton was almost sure that if he tried to approach Eren with the idea of making up with Levi he'd have his head ripped off.

He needed an expert's help.

The phone was answered on the third ring.

"Hello, Grisha Jaeger speaking."

This was going to be difficult to explain. "Hello, Grisha. It's Carlton. We have a problem."

There was a long sigh from the other end. "What happened…?"

"… It's complicated. If you have the time, I'd like you to come over sometime this afternoon so we can discuss this more privately in my office. The sooner the better."

"I have a meeting at one so will three work?"

"Three is fine."

* * *

><p>"… and that's where we are right now."<p>

Grisha sighed heavily, a hand massaging his temple. "Why, Eren…? Just why?"

"I just don't know what to do… I almost never see Levi that angry… Would… would it be better if we just terminate the arrangement? I'm sure we could find some other way to make this work instead of forcing those two together."

"We can't let that be our first option. My son has a… unique ability to push others' buttons to the point of snapping. Most of the people he's met has yelled at him one way or the other simply because he was acting like a brat, so I'm almost positive that the fight was entirely Eren's fault. Then we have to take in the fact that Eren would probably do anything to stop this marriage, so Eren starting the fight to force us to end the marriage is something that's extremely plausible."

"Would you be willing to come back with me to talk to Eren? I can handle my own son, but I think it would be best if you talked to Eren."

"I can certainly try."

"Great. We'll leave immediately. Unless you have another meeting, that is."

"No more meetings."

"Good. You can follow behind me, then."

* * *

><p>The drive back to the mansion was about as long and nerve-wracking as one would expect it to be. Carlton was not looking forward to the next interaction he'd have with his son. Because not only was Levi probably still in an icy rage and Carlton probably going to be unable to negotiate with Levi, but now all of this was going to be witnessed by a valuable business partner and Eren as well.<p>

His own son's lack of respect was something he'd dealt with and grown accustomed to over time. That was something he was more or less okay with now. But he didn't need anyone else to lose what respect they had formed for Carlton.

Confidence and determination surged throughout Carlton's mind and body as he, with Grisha close behind in his own car, pulled up to the mansion.

His father may have always considered him to be a weak link, but not this time. Not regarding this arrangement, and not regarding the important relationship of Eren and Levi.

This newfound tenacity propelled Carlton forward from the car and into the house.

He was going to do this.

He would not back down!

… He did not know where they were…

The house was… quiet… not quite like the tense atmosphere before, but even so, the stillness still felt unnerving to Carlton… the place was filled only with the soft working of the workers who diligently preformed their tasks.

No screaming voices anywhere.

"Excuse me," Carlton addressed one of the nearby workers. "But where are my son and his fiancé?"

"Last I saw they were in the backyard-" Immediately after the words had be spoken the two fathers headed straight for the backyard, only one thing on their mind. "Oh! But you may not want to disturb them just yet!"

The worker's warning only pushed them further.

But after all the small fights…

After all they had done to avoid each other…

After that all those harsh insults…

After that one last fight that left both of them on the brink of breaking…

After that one last fight that had left the agreement tittering on the brink of annulment…

After Carlton had spent the entire day focusing only on this situation…

Nothing could have prepared either man for the sight they found waiting for them in the backyard.

* * *

><p>Watching Carlton and Grisha burst out into the backyard with the grace that only businessmen who need to keep an appearance up seemed to have was definitely not the most surprising thing that Levi had experienced that day, but it was definitely a little bit startling and only the tiniest bit funny. However, once Levi realized why both of them were here, it stopped being as funny.<p>

He'd never told his father about Eren's and his make-up.

Oops.

That _probably_ would have been a good thing to mention to his father at some point. He could only imagine all of the worrying that his father had done all day. It must have been pretty bad for his father to call up Eren's father, too.

The humor of the situation came back full force when he watched as both fathers faltered in shocked confusion.

Seeing two people who supposedly hated each other cuddling under a tree not 24 hours after they declared their hatred for each other must be pretty jarring indeed.

Levi had to force an amused smile down and off his face. He was sure Carlton and Grisha wouldn't appreciate one. Even so, that didn't stop the slight teasing tone to seep through in his words. "Father, you're home early. And Grisha. What a surprise! Is everything alright?"

"So it would seem…" Grisha hummed thoughtfully.

"Levi… W-What…" Carlton cleared his throat so as not to stutter again. "What is the meaning of this?"

Levi shrugged. "After the fight, we made up."

"And you expect me to believe that after you "made up" you two just happened to become the best of friends?" Carlton demanded, trying to sound like he had everything under control. Levi tried not to roll his eyes at his father's show of dominance. Because that's all it was: a show.

"We are not the best of friends. We just talked it out." Keep your cool, Levi.

"Then why, pray tell, are you two-"

"He fell asleep." Levi cut in. He shouldn't have interrupted his father like that, but he couldn't help it. He didn't want to hear that they were cuddling from someone else. Or at all for that matter. "We weren't… hugging intentionally. He fell asleep; I didn't want to move him. That's all there is to the story."

"That doesn't explain why you're practically petting him!" Levi jerked his hand away and cursed himself once he realized, for the third time that day too, that he had in fact been stroking Eren's soft hair. If he didn't start paying more attention, Eren was going to wake up and question him too. He didn't need that kind of set back after finally getting Eren to talk to him.

Grisha stepped, either, intentionally or unintentionally, stopping the fight and saving Levi from having to answer. "Levi, I don't mean to dismiss your story, but…" He was going to anyway. "I know my son. If what I heard about the fight was true, he's not going to simply brush it off and make up. He doesn't give up." Grisha sighed. "Knowing my son… I can't help but feel this might just be another way for him to weasel his was out of this marriage."

To Levi, it didn't seem like Eren was trying to "weasel his way out", but he made sure to keep that thought in mind for later. After all, Grisha has known Eren for a much longer time than Levi. Which means he knew things that Levi didn't…

"Say," Levi started after a moment of thinking, "is Eren usually a heavy sleeper?"

Grisha chuckled, probably in response to a previous memory involving Eren's sleeping habits. "You could host the Russian Circus in his room and he'd snore right through it."

"Really?" That was good to know.

"I take it you couldn't wake him up? I've been there before. It's even worse after one of his all-nighters. He should wake up in a couple hours, though." Levi could have danced with relief had he not had a still sleeping Eren on his lap and people watching him. Thank God this was normal for him. "How long has he been asleep?"

"Since eleven."

"Oh, then I better get home," Grisha rushed out. "He should be waking up any second now, and I don't want him to know that I was here. He might not take that too well."

Levi nodded in agreement. "Understandable."

Carlton showed Grisha out, shooting Levi worrying glances over his shoulder like he was expecting Eren to wake up right then and there and then start fighting with Levi all over again. It seemed like Carlton wasn't exactly sold on the whole idea that Eren and Levi made up with each other, but knowing his father, Levi was almost certain it wouldn't be brought up again. He just hoped that this new found confidence his father had acquired wouldn't show up much more. He was 26 years old and owned his own multibillion dollar business. He didn't need to be bossed around by his father who had never been able to boss him around before. Eren, maybe, but Levi? No.

Speaking of Eren… Grisha lied.

It was now currently closing in on 7pm, the leftovers of Levi's dinner sat beside him, and Eren _still_ had not woken up. How fucking long does that boy need to sleep?! It's been eight hours already! It was getting cold, Levi's ass fucking hurt from sitting all fucking day, and he had finished that godforsaken play hours ago. He was about to throw the damn brat off of him, relationship and marriage be damned. For fuck's sake he was _not_ going to-

A groan.

Followed by shuffling.

Levi could feel Eren moving more than he had the whole damn day. He was finally waking up, and it was the last time he would _ever_ get to sleep on Levi like that, or in any position, again! Levi was going to give that boy a piece of his mind! He looked down and… oh god damn it all.

One droopy green eye blinked itself open before being rubbed lightly by one of the hands that wasn't still wrapped securely around Levi's waist. The boy yawned, a light pink blush dusting itself across those tanned cheeks and hair lightly tousled. He was the picture of sleepy innocence. And Levi was now completely at his mercy.

Fuck.

How was it that Eren already had such control over Levi when it had only been less than a day since he'd hated Levi and he'd spent most of their time together afterwards asleep? It could be that there truly was a thin line between love and hate, but Levi would rather give up his company to the highest bidder than admit that Hanji might have been right about anything regarding Eren and his relationship.

All of that sleepiness and innocence disappeared, though, once Eren realized exactly where he was.

He shot up while simultaneously scooting himself back away from Levi. His faint blush from before evolved right before Levi's eyes, changing into a bright red that went all the way to his ears. It took a while for Eren to find his voice, but when he did it came out in sputters.

"I-I-I… I d-didn't…"

"You did."

"O-oh…" Levi briefly wondered just how red Eren's face could get. It was quite an impressive shade already.

"Oh indeed."

"H-How long was I out…?"

"About eight hours."

"Oh no… Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Why didn't I? _I tried_. _Several times_. I even tried to pry you off and _that_ didn't even work." Eren groaned, mortified, and Levi was once again fascinated at how red Eren's face was. Because it wasn't just his cheeks and ears now.

"I'm so sorry… I-I didn't mean to fall asleep on you like that! I'll… I just…" He made a break for it. Eren scrambled to his feet and started for the door before Levi could react.

"Hey!" Instantly, Levi chucked the Shakespearian plan straight for Eren's head since he was too far to grab. It hit Eren's shoulder instead but it still did the trick in that it got Eren to stop running and turn around. "For fuck's sake get back here!" Levi said without missing a beat. "It's alright, damn it, just get back here and help me up. And get my book while you're at it."

Eren grudgingly followed orders, the blush never leaving his face.

"Never expected you to run. In my extensive experience, you're more of a fighter than a runner."

"Whatever…" Eren mumbled quietly. He was just flustered was all, waking up in a position like that… And he'd just woken up too! It's not like he made sound decisions when he was tired…

Levi groaned as Eren helped him up. "My legs are asleep, my ass is sore as fuck, I'm pretty sure I got bitten by at least a dozen different kinds of bugs…" Eren's face fell at each complaint. That bastard said that it was okay so why did he have to keep complaining about it. Levi let out a small, sly smile that was surprisingly comforting in its own way. "But at least my father can't complain about us not spending enough time together."

Eren let out his own small smile at that. That made him feel a little more at ease.

"And at least you got sleep too since you obviously didn't get any last night."

"Oh… uh… haha, yeah. I guess that's just- I should just listen to you about those things from now on. I mean you obviously know a lot more about cleaning than I do and so do the maids so…"

He was hiding something. That much was obvious.

"Well, at least you've been sleeping well before last night… right?"

"Oh, uh, yeah! Yeah, totally."

Okay, so it was completely obvious that he was hiding something, the only problem was what. What was he hiding? Why was he hiding something?

"Alright, but let me know if there's a problem, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'm serious, Eren. If there is any problem, be sure to let us know. We're not here to hurt you."

There.

It was small, but he saw it. Eren faltered for just a fraction of a second, like he was concerned about something. But just as quick, the happy mask was back on.

"Okay. But I'm serious, too. I'm fine, Levi. I promise." Eren sighed and quickly changed the subject, rambling on about being hungry and how he should probably get something to eat. Levi listened on carefully and followed, well, more like hobbled thanks to his still asleep legs.

There was definitely something going on, but for now, it looked like Levi's only option was to lay low. He had to keep a close eye on Eren, and hopefully Eren will end up telling Levi on his own.

* * *

><p>Eren made his way to the kitchen, thankfully without Levi following him. He'd gone straight upstairs after they got back in, muttering something about an extra-long shower, which left Eren all by himself. Which he was perfectly okay with, mind you. He didn't need Levi trying to pry into his sleeping issues (which were apparently nonexistent today).<p>

In all honesty, Eren knew that he probably should have told Levi about it. It was the best thing to do and the quickest way to fixing it, not to mention that nothing ever went right for characters in movies or books when they lied and the entire problem would have been solved if they'd just told the truth. But as of right now, the only solution Eren knew would work would be to leave the house. That left home and the backyard. There was no way in Heaven, Hell, or Earth that either dad would cave and cut the week short, and there was no way in Heaven, Hell, or Earth that Eren was going to camp outside for the rest of the week like a loser.

Not to mention that if he did tell someone that the only way to fix his problem was to leave, no one would believe him regardless. Because, really? If that doesn't scream "this is all a plot to go back home and ditch this stupid week and marriage" than he didn't know what did. The only thing he would get from telling someone would be a glare and a "suck it up".

"He's alive!" Chef Hannes yelled as Eren walked into the kitchen. Eren laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm alive. Alive and hungry, that is! What have you got to eat?" Now it was Hannes' turn to laugh.

"So demanding." But even so, he dragged out some leftovers for Eren and popped them in the microwave. "Now what's gotten you in such high spirits? Last'a saw you were practically dead. You alright?"

"I'm fine! I promise! I'm fine! Levi already expressed concern, and I'm _fine_. _Seriously_," Eren stressed. He was fine, just stop asking.

"Alright, alright! No need to chop my head off!"

Hannes slid Eren's food over, and Eren dug in. It felt so nice to have food in his stomach again.

"So, on to my next concern…" Eren paused, not liking the sound of that. "What exactly were you doing snuggled up against Levi like that?" Hannes gave a suggestive eyebrow wiggle and Eren hid his face.

"Oh don't remind me," he moaned, absolutely mortified. "It was a complete accident, I swear! I don't even know how it happened… One minute I was under the tree, Levi reading that book, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in his lap! Oh God… what do I even do…?"

That was the other thing bothering Eren. Despite getting a good amount of sleep and feeling better than he had in days, why did he fall asleep against Levi? Every other time he'd been around Levi, the feelings he got only intensified. At least, every time except for last night when they were cleaning and talking. That wasn't so bad… So why…?

Chef Hannes pulled Eren out of his thoughts. "Interesting to know, but not quite the answer'a was looking for."

"Huh?"

"It's pretty obvious why you fell asleep against him, but what I want to know is what you were doing so close to him in the first place. Last'a heard you refused to even be in the same room as him. And what's all this I heard about mud?"

Oh.

Eren lifted his head, a small smirk playing on his lips that he couldn't have fought down even if he tried.

"Oh, Chef Hannes. You missed it."

* * *

><p><strong>Every time I read over this chapter I always forget... and then when I read it over I always giggle at the fact that I had Hannes call Levi "Lil Master". XDD<strong>

**Also who's happy Eren finally got some sleep? I know I am.**

**As always, feel free to leave a review, let me know how I did, let me know how much you love it, or even let me know what you had for dinner… no… no on second thought don't tell me what you had for dinner. That's a little creepy…**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D**

**Regular updates will resume.**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


	10. It's You, Me, and Plan B

**So in terms of time of day, this update is SUUUUUUPER early cuz I have work at like… 10 meaning I have to leave at like 9, then I go straight to class and I won't get out until like 6 but then I go to dinner so basically I'm losing sleep to make you all happy so you'd better be happy or I'll kill you all in a fit of rage.**

… **Wait no, that's not how that sentence was supposed to end…**

**ANYWAY, yeah early update. It probably would have just been better if I'd updated it a day early but whatever I don't care anymore.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: It's You, Me, and Plan B<strong>

"No…!" Chef Hannes wailed. "I can't believe'a missed such a spectacle!" Eren knew it was wrong to laugh at other people's misery, but he just couldn't help it with the overdramatic show Chef Hannes was putting on. "You tracked _mud_ all the way through the ballroom _and_ up the stairs?! Oh what I wouldn't give to see Levi's reaction to that!"

That's where Eren's laughter stopped. "You don't want to see it, he was fucking pissed! I swear he was going to rip my head off…"

"But still, standing up to him like that… You've got guts. Not a lot of brains, but plenty of guts."

Eren sighed, slumping his shoulders. "I'm just a suicidal bastard is all…"

"HAHA! That you are, my boy! That you are!" Chef Hannes smacked Eren's shoulder playfully. "But, what are you gonna do now that your "feud" is over? Got any special plans?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Eren gasped. "We're just gonna try to hang out tomorrow, so wipe those damn perverted thoughts out of your head," he growled lightly.

"Oh, I kid, I kid… So what do you have planned?" Chef Hannes leaned forward as Eren shrugged.

"I don't know… Maybe watch some movies or play some video games?"

"I've never really seen Levi get all that into movies or games…"

"Well… I don't know!" Eren cried, exasperated. "Movies and games are something I like to do, but we didn't really get a chance to talk about it! He ran off to take a shower as soon as we got back inside."

"How about you take turns?" Chef Hannes suggested.

"Turns?"

"Yeah! Each day one of you gets to be in charge of what you're going to do that day! So, let's say that tomorrow you'll get to choose movies and games and the primary choice of entertainment, and then the next day Levi gets to choose!"

Eren thought it over. It sounded like a good idea… "Well… I'll certainly try to talk to Levi about that if he ever gets done with his shower…"

"I think he'll like it."

* * *

><p>Eren didn't see Levi for the rest of the night, so he put his plan into action the next day.<p>

"Movies or games…?"

Eren nodded eagerly. "Yeah, do you have any good ones?"

Levi made a face. "I don't know. I'm not much of a movie watcher." He paused. "Games, on the other hand…"

"Really?" Levi began moving towards one of the living rooms, and Eren followed closely. "Wait, you're not talking about board games or something like that are you?"

"No, you dumbass. I have a PS3." Eren stopped.

"No…" he moaned. It took only a moment for Levi to figure out why.

"I swear to God if you start whining about my goddamn PS3 then you can walk your dweeb ass back to your house and your precious Xbox."

"But Xboxes are so much better!" Eren exclaimed, catching back up with Levi. He actually didn't care too much about the feud between Xbox and PS3 (or so he liked to tell himself) but that still didn't stop him from wanting his Xbox back. And really, he was only complaining as a sort of payback for all those little comments Levi had made over the past couple of days. Sure he hadn't actually meant any of them, but Eren didn't actually mean any of his comments either. So it was even right?

Besides, he complained enough already, so it shouldn't be too hard.

"I don't care if you get free ice cream with every purchase of one, I have a damn PS3 so you're going to sit down, shut up, and deal with it." Upon reaching the living room, Levi pulled out the aforementioned gaming device and started setting it up.

Eren bit his lip. "… What if they came with cleaning supplies?"

Levi stopped everything and turned to just stare at Eren. Eren let out a small giggle, and Levi rolled his eyes. "… Cheeky shit."

Eren plopped down next to Levi and started sifting through his games. "So… what kind of games do you have? Any good ones?"

He soon found out that Levi did in fact have good games, though few in number, and that they were all single player games.

"Really? All single player games?"

"I never needed multiplayer games."

"Then what do you do with your friends? You do have friends right?" Eren teased.

"I do more than stare mindlessly at a TV with them." Levi ignored Eren's indignant 'It is not mindlessly staring at a TV!' and continued. "Besides, I don't have a lot of time for most games."

"What do you do?"

"Work."

"Oh…" Awkward silence.

Levi broke it by asking, "So, what else did you want to do?"

"Movies are always a good fall back." So Eren turned his attention to the movie selection. "Let's see… don't know it… don't know it… old movie… crappy movie… You're movie selection is even worse than your game selection!"

"What were you expecting?"

"I don't know!" Eren cried, throwing his hands in the air. "You guys are filthy rich! You've got to have something!"

"My grandfather is an 80-something year old workaholic, my grandmother spends most of her time reading or tending to the garden, and my father only cares about one thing on TV: football. I'm surprised we even have movies," Levi stated.

"So you never watched movies as a kid?"

"No."

"Not even Disney movies?! The Lion King, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Peter Pan? None of those?!"

"What part of "no" was not clear to you?" Eren could have fainted from shock. He had his work cut out for him.

"Alright. That's it. First chance we get I'm making you marathon Disney movies with me."

"Hell no."

"Hell yes. You're not getting out of this. You need culture!"

"The only person who needs culture here is you!" Levi retorted, but his words fell on deaf ears.

"So, since you have no good movies here, I'm going to install Netflix on your PS3 and we can watch some good movies there." That's where Levi stopped him, about three seconds from throwing Eren away from his PS3.

"I'm not paying for Netflix."

Eren waved him off. "We'll use my account. It'll be fine."

"Why are you so intent on watching fucking movies?" Levi asked curiously as Eren fumbled around on his gaming console. He wasn't used to the PS3, so it took some time to get everything set up.

"W-Well… We have to get to know each other right? A good way to do that is to… do things that we like. And I like movies and games. So… we can do things that I like today, and then tomorrow we can do whatever you want." Eren bit his lip, watching Levi closely for his reaction. After hearing what he'd said, he realized that he didn't actually do a very good job at explaining the plan. It sounded so much better last night when Chef Hannes explained it.

Levi contemplated Eren for a moment before nodding. "That sounds reasonable. You could have said so from the beginning, but we can do that."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Eren returned to setting up Netflix. They exchanged small talk during the process, and, once Netflix was up and running, they eventually decided on an action movie that Eren swore was cinematic perfection. Or at least it was the best out of the selection they had.

And he wasn't sure when it happened exactly. Perhaps it was just watching the hero and his girlfriend interact so lovingly. But during the movie, Eren had a revelation.

Now that he and Levi weren't fighting… what would happen to them?

Eren's first plan of hating Levi for the rest of his life had fallen through, so what was the backup plan? He hadn't thought of a Plan B when Plan A had seemed so fool-proof. What would a Plan B even look like?

Well… they _were_ getting married… and married people were supposed to love each other…

Eren glanced over to Levi.

He was watching the movie, yes, but didn't appear to be all that interested in it. If Eren hadn't felt so conflicted, he would have been offended. As it was, he continued to look Levi over. From his undercut and cold grey eyes, down his lithe frame to his elegantly crossed legs.

Could he love Levi?

There was no denying that Levi was handsome and he wasn't actually a bad guy despite his terrible conversation skills. Not to mention he was willing to give Eren a second chance after… after that fight (there was no way Eren was going to forgive himself for that. He took his temper too seriously to justify snapping like that). There was no real reason why Eren shouldn't love Levi, right? At least none that Eren had found yet. And if Eren loved Levi, then neither family could complain either. It would just make everyone's lives easier if Eren could fall in love with Levi.

He could make himself love Levi, right?

Eren bit his lip in consideration, the movie long forgotten. He was crazy to think that this was a better plan than hating Levi in any way, shape, or form, but what else was there? They were getting married after all. It just… made sense…

But now he had to figure out how… Breaking the ice was always the first step to a relationship, and they'd already done that. What was the next step? Going on a date perhaps? Did this count as a date? Probably not, but for love's sake Eren could pretend it was. So then what did people usually do at the movies?

Using his knowledge of movies dates that he'd gotten from movies, Eren concluded that physical contact was his next goal. So, he scooted closer to Levi as discretely as he could.

Of course, when your partner isn't actually paying attention to the movie, everything else suddenly becomes noticeable.

"What are you doing?" Levi asked sharply.

"O-Oh! Just, um…"

"Are you cold?"

Eren took the chance and scooted closer. "A bit."

Levi stood, unfazed. "I'll get a blanket then."

Not exactly what Eren had planned.

He sighed, eyes trained to the blurs of the movie Levi had just so happened to forget to pause… and he was missing one of the best parts. And it wasn't until after that part when Levi came back, draping Eren in a heavy blanket.

"Better?"

"Uh… yeah." Not really.

"You don't sound better." Well, he was covered in a thick blanket he didn't even want.

"You missed a good scene."

"Somehow, I think I'll survive," Levi retorted, sitting back down. Eren inwardly sighed, moving onto the next logical step in his failing plan.

"Are you cold? Because if you are we can totally share the blanket-"

"Nah, I'm good."

Okay, either Levi was truly oblivious when it came to romance, or he knew exactly what Eren was trying to do. That or Eren was just really bad at trying to romance someone, which could very well be true regardless of whether Levi knew or not.

… And now Eren was starting to get hot… That was a really heavy blanket…

But Levi sat back down in the same spot, right next to Eren. So at least Eren could conclude that he wasn't bothering Levi. That was good. So Levi went back to reluctantly watching the movie while Eren focused more on Levi, the movie long forgotten to him.

It was… oddly comforting to be close to Levi. Eren had felt like this the last couple of times that he'd been around Levi, but now that he wasn't as mind-numbingly tired it was easier to think about. He didn't notice his strange feelings as much when he was around Levi. The same one that always kept him awake during the long hours of the night and left him utterly exhausted during the day. And yet… He was able to fall asleep yesterday… Was that because Levi was with him? But he didn't get those feelings outside either. So was it both?

… Could he test this hypothesis?

It wouldn't be too difficult to test considering Eren was always tired. And Levi was right there… If he just slouched down some and leaned his head over just like that…

"I trust you got plenty of sleep last night, right?"

Eren froze.

"Um, yeah." No. "Yeah, I did." No, he didn't. He got no sleep last night. Just like every other night.

"So then why does it feel like you're about to do exactly what you did yesterday?"

"Be…cause I'm not…?" At least not for that long.

"Eren, you are not going to force me to watch these shitty movies while you loll off to sleep and I can't wake you up for hours."

"I'm not that tired! It would just be like… a short nap…" Eren paused as something else registered. "And this isn't a shitty movie!" Uncultured swine.

"How the hell am I supposed to trust you? And yes, it is shitty. All they're doing is fighting."

"It's an action movie. I told you that before we started it."

"Well, then I guess I don't like action movies."

"Well then what do you want to watch?"

"Something that won't make you fall asleep."

"An action movie wouldn't make me fall asleep…" Eren muttered.

"You were literally just about to put your head on my shoulder." Eren stuttered out half excuses, and Levi just shook his head. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Eren groaned in frustration. "Okay, what about a horror movie? That's got enough going on to keep me awake."

"That doesn't sound fun."

"None of the options I give are gonna sound fun to you!" Eren yelled. "You apparently hate movies! I'm sorry I suggested it!" He made to get up and leave, all of his plans be damned, but was quickly thwarted.

"Hey!" Levi grabbed a hold of Eren's wrist and yanked him back down. "Stop that," he chided soothingly. "I didn't mean it like that." He held Eren in place by pulling him onto his side and letting an arm wrap around Eren's shoulders.

"You and your stupid sarcasm…" Eren mumbled, making himself comfortable.

"It wasn't sarcasm exactly but…" Levi paused. "I'm… I can stop… if you want."

"What? And have you act even more serious than you are now?" Eren shuddered. "Eww, no."

"But I've been bothering you this whole time with it. I know I don't have the best conversational skills when it comes to… building friendly relationships, but that's no excuse. You were obviously mad at me for several reasons and I don't doubt one of them was because of all the things I said. I realized it too late too. I was too harsh with you considering the fact that we'd just met, and I said horrible things to you and-" Ah, he was starting to rant again.

"Levi! It doesn't bother me." Levi went to say something more but Eren quickly cut him off. "And nothing beyond yesterday counts because I was being stupid."

"Eren…"

"I don't need an apology." In his eyes, his uncontrollable temper was a worse crime than some simple comments. "You actually act a lot like my friends. And they've said worse to me, so if I can stay friends with them, then I can stand your stupid sarcastic comments. It's just going to take me a while to get used to your particular brand."

Levi sighed, like he was in pain. He wanted to say more, but gave in and shook his head. "And apparently it's going to take me a while to get used to your shitty movie taste." Though, he was going to try to keep his comments low. At least for now.

Eren smiled, pleased that he'd gotten Levi back to where he was before, before gasping indignantly, realizing what Levi had just said. "I do not-"

Levi push Eren back down. "Just pick one that actually has a semi interesting plot this time," Levi joked lightly.

It took a few moments, but a pouting Eren finally started scrolling through the movies. "You might like this one. It's a satire of a horror movie."

"Will it keep you awake?"

"… We'll see."

It did not end up keeping Eren awake, in the end. He'd managed to stay up for as much as he could. Being so close to Levi made him feel awkward, so that helped, as well as the few times where Eren was actually able to watch the movie. But the warmth of the blanket, as well as the comfort Levi apparently gave off and his still lingering exhaustion dragged him under.

The next thing Eren knew was that he was being roughly shaken by a moving shoulder.

"Huh…? Wha…?"

"Oh my god…" Levi breathed. "You actually woke up."

Eren ignored the light jest. "Uhm… yeah… How long was I out?"

"Just to the end of the movie. So you need to pick out a new one."

Eren paused, waking up a bit more at that. "Wait, so… did you like that one?"

There was a moment of silence where everything was still as he watched Levi closely. "… Not bad."

Eren couldn't keep the grin off his face. "And you want to watch another one?"

"Just so long as they don't suck like the first movie you tried to make me watch. And actually try to stay awake this time. I still don't trust you."

They spent the rest of the day like that, leaning against each other watching mostly horror and thriller movies since those were the movies that really captured Levi's attention. Eren tried to stay awake as best as he could, but still spent most of his time sleeping on and off. The further they progressed, however, the less Eren needed to sleep. That also made him more aware of how close he was to Levi, but he refused to move. He would have to get used to being close to Levi if he was going to love him after all.

Carlton, thoroughly confused about their relationship, made them take a break for dinner. When they finished, Levi dragged a laughing Eren back to the couch.

And he managed to stay awake for the whole movie.

* * *

><p>The only problem was that he also stayed awake all night too. Again. In fact, it stopped surprising Eren. Staying up all night had become the norm. An unhealthy, emotionally and physically draining, and boredom inducing norm, but a norm nonetheless.<p>

So when Levi banged on his door early Friday morning, Eren scrambled frantically in hopes that he could fool Levi into thinking he'd been asleep all night. Life was against him, however, as he'd stripped the bed of its pillows and blankets to make his still standing pillow throne. So instead he raced to the door and locked it as quietly as he could while throwing out what he hoped was a raspy and sleep heavy "yeah" that sounded like it came from the bed.

"Wake up, pack your backpack with a change of clothes and whatever else you need, and meet me downstairs." With that said, Eren could hear Levi's footsteps trailing away from his door and down the stairs. If anything had sounded wrong to Levi, he hadn't mentioned it, so Eren breathed a sigh of relief.

Levi was already suspicious of Eren's "sleeping" habits, no thanks to his extra-long nap the other day, and was probably even more aware now because he kept falling asleep yesterday. Don't get him wrong, Eren was thrilled that he finally got some sleep during this hellish week, but he just didn't need Levi snooping around and yelling at him for being melodramatic. If he could just hang on for another couple days, then he'd be right back in his own bed sleeping as peacefully as any teenage boy could, and no one but himself would be the wiser.

…

Wait.

Why did he need to pack?

* * *

><p>Levi felt like pacing, but being raised as he had, he remained still in the foyer.<p>

According to Eren, today they would do whatever Levi wanted to do and it sure as hell wasn't going to be watching movies. Sure, he did end up liking quite a few of the movies they watched, they had just the right amount of action and plot, but there was only so much he could take before he felt like his brain was going to ooze out of his ears. And that kid wanted him to watch more marathons? How Eren managed to do it, he had no idea.

Speaking of, there was something up with him. Sleeping during the day but insisting that he's fine… and the cuddling… Levi might have excused the first incident under the tree as Eren's sleep deprived unawareness, but yesterday Eren had been fully conscious. Half of the time at least. For a guy who talked about hating his guts just a couple days ago, he was very touchy feely. Was it because he was starting to like Levi? Was it because he was still just tired from the other day and Levi was a good pillow (though he didn't know how with his bony shoulders)?

He needed to figure Eren out, because all he knew was that something was up and Eren refused to tell him what it was.

He didn't like unsolved puzzles.

And speak of the devil, there was Eren tromping down the stairs with his backpack looking as confused as ever. Just when Levi thought he'd have to go back and make sure he was getting ready.

"You ready?" Levi asked, grabbing his own bag.

"I guess? What are we doing?"

"I thought we'd get breakfast first."

Levi led Eren out the front door to a sliver BMW already waiting in front of the porch steps. He chuckled when he heard a muffled "Oh, come on!" from Eren. It was obvious that, despite having a filthy rich father, the kid didn't have true experience with money.

"Wait, so we're going out to eat?"

"Yeah. I was thinking Burger King."

"Burger King?!" Eren cried out, obviously that being the last thing he'd expected to hear.

"What? Think I can't handle my fast food?" Levi retorted indignantly, grabbing Eren's bag from him. Rich people eat fast food too, you know.

"No, just… why Burger King? I didn't even know they sold breakfast." Oh… really?

Levi shrugged, tossing their bags into the back seat. "They have good sized portions. Why? What would you have in mind?"

This time Eren shrugged. "I don't know. I've never had breakfast at a fast food joint before."

"Oh? Is it time that _I_ educate _you_? And on fast food too… for shame." Levi tsked at Eren while shaking his head.

"No! I've just never gotten breakfast there before!" Excuses, excuses. "By the time I wake up they've usually stopped selling breakfast. Besides, I prefer late night fast food runs. There's just something extra special about going out and getting cheap food at one in the morning."

"Yeah, it's usually called "I've hit rock bottom" or something like that."

"Oh, shut up. Let's just go get your fast food," Eren grumbled.

Levi chuckled, and after a moment, Eren did too.

So off Levi drove in search of a Burger King.

While they drove, Eren kept his gaze glued to the outside world. It was the first time he'd laid eyes on it in nearly a week. The farther away they drove from the mansion, the better Eren felt. It was like a heavy fog was finally seeping out of his body. Lightweight with this freeing feeling, Eren rolled down his window and breathed in the morning, spring air, still cool since the sun hadn't been up for that long.

Levi caught glimpses of Eren as he drove and noted the blissful smile adorning his face, and he was glad that he decided to take Eren out for the day. He was already seeing a side of Eren that he'd only seen once while Eren was in the garden, and they'd only been driving for a couple minutes. Levi wondered why Eren wasn't usually like this and how he could help so that Eren could remain like this. Not because he was falling in love with Eren or anything, definitely not. But he did genuinely want the kid to be happy.

The ride remained quiet until after they'd gotten their breakfast. As they munched in Levi's car, which really was Levi's car and not just a family car, Eren decided to break the ice.

"So why exactly did you treat me to fast food? And why did you have me pack my bag?"

"I figured we'd get out of the house for today."

"So why did you have me pack a change of clothes?"

"Maybe for two days."

Eren slowed his chewing. "Will your dad be okay with that?"

Levi shrugged. "There were no rules about having to stay in the house."

"And why did you just decide to take me out now?"

"Well, since we did whatever you wanted to yesterday, according to your terms, we get to do whatever I want to today."

"Oh, right… and… what do you have planned?" This kid sure asked a lot of questions.

"You'll see."

"Really? Oh, come on! That's not fair! I told you what I wanted to do!"

"Yes, but I want this to be a surprise. So hush." Eren groaned loudly, not even bothering to hide his displeasure. "It'll take a while to get there, though, so you can turn on the radio or something to keep you entertained. It takes about an hour and a half."

So, once they had finished their breakfast and were back on the road, Eren did exactly that. It took him a while to finally find a station he liked, but when he did, he just let it play as he stared right back out the window.

Levi made sure to keep an eye on him while he drove. Not the best idea, but they were just fleeting glances so it couldn't have been too dangerous. But for a while, he would catch Eren staring at his right hand which he let rest on the armrest (driving one handed became a habit he picked up while driving stick shifts). Confused, Levi wanted to ask why but knew that the day Eren actually explained himself would be the day his grandfather actually smiled. At least in this early stage of their relationship (whatever relationship that may be).

Thinking back to how cuddly Eren had been before, Levi flipped his hand open, palm up, as a sort of invitation. To what, Levi didn't know. That would be up to Eren.

Levi heard a soft, almost inaudible gasp so he turned to find Eren staring at him like he'd just been caught stealing cookies before dinner. Levi nearly rolled his eyes and went back to driving but left his hand where it was.

Soon enough, Levi felt fingers gliding gently, shyly, over his hand before they threaded themselves with Levi's own slender digits. Eren's grip was tense and timid, not really comfortable at all. It was forced.

But why?

Levi would have pulled out his hair from frustration if one of his hands wasn't currently being held captive by an awkward child.

And if he wasn't driving. That too.

For the rest of the car ride, they were silent. Both lost in thought while holding the other's hand. Levi only let go once he had to downshift and the sudden lack of warmth felt strange.

Pulling off to the side of a wooded road, Levi stopped the car. "Here we are."

Eren jerkily glanced around, eyes blown wide. "What the hell are we doing here?"

"I've come to murder you. Start running."

There was a long, thick silence. Neither of them moved.

"I shouldn't have let you watch those horror movies," Eren decided eventually.

Levi smirked and made to get out of the car. "Seriously though, get out."

Eren followed suit. "Why? What are we doing?"

"I thought we'd go for a hike." Levi reached into the backseat and tossed Eren his backpack before slipping on his.

Eren raised an eyebrow. "A hike?"

"Yup."

"Here?"

"Where else?"

"And what about the car?"

"We'll leave it here."

"What?!" Eren's cry startled the birds nearby. "You can't just leave a BMW on the side of the road! Someone's going to take it!"

"It'll be fine," Levi assured, locking the car and heading off into the woods. Eren was torn between staying with the car, and not losing sight of Levi.

"No it won't!"

"Eren." Levi stopped and turned around. "Trust me. It's fine. Come on."

Eren, after quite a few moments of hesitation, slowly ebbed away from the vehicle and towards Levi. With Eren now following, Levi started back into the woods. But Eren was far from done.

"You do realize that this is the start of a horror movie right?"

"Maybe you were the one who shouldn't have watch all those horror movies."

"I can see the headlines now… "Business Billionaire Heartthrob Levi Voclain and Random Boy Torn to Shreds by Backwoods Savages"."

"You are far too melodramatic."

"We're going to die out here, Levi."

"We are not."

"And when we do I'm blaming it all on you."

"Eren, I have been through these woods a hundred times. There are no backwoods savages waiting to eat us-"

"Tear us to shreds."

"Whatever. Just… trust me. We're fine."

"Business Billionaire Heartthrob Levi Voclain and Random Boy Found Two Weeks After Disappearance Starving and Half Insane After Someone _Stole Their Car_."

"And no one is going to steal my car either."

"Business Billionaire Heartthrob-"

"Business Billionaire Heartthrob Levi Voclain is going to knock you out and leave you for those backwoods savages if you don't shut up!"

"So there are backwoods savages!"

"_Eren_."

"Alright, _fine_. I'll stop."

"Good."

Jesus fucking Christ. If this was how Eren usually acted then Levi was going to have a very tough life. He was almost as annoying as Hanji, only several times cuter and annoying in a slightly more endearing way.

"It was kind of fun coming up with those headlines, though. They were funny right?"

"No, they were annoying."

"Oh come on. You don't even like the name I gave you?"

"That was especially annoying."

"I like the name I gave you."

"If you ever call me that again I'll hit you."

"That's domestic abuse."

"I don't care."

"I could have you arrested for that."

Levi didn't even have to say anything. It was all in the look the he gave Eren, who quickly wilted under the gaze.

"Yeah, no I couldn't… You have too much power Levi."

"Oddly enough, I'm okay with that."

Their banter continued on and off for the next two hours as they walked through the woods. There was a nice barely noticeable but still there path that had been carved out, mostly by Levi. He hadn't lied when he said that he came out here all the time. He was used to the spotlight and media that came along with his world, but it was still nice to be out where no one else was, doing whatever.

Levi looked back often to find Eren turning around to get a better look at the nature surrounding him, and he laughed when Eren tripped on a branch during one of his turnarounds. Then regretted it as Eren had taken revenge on him by whining like a child about anything that he could. It was too cold, there were too many plants, it was too bright, his leg hurt now. It was at that point where Levi decided that stopping to eat would be a good idea. If only to shut Eren up.

And he'd felt bad about making Eren uncomfortable with his sarcasm… this boy complained too much, even if it was mostly to piss off Levi.

"So," Eren started when they sat down for lunch, which Levi had so thoughtfully packed. "I never knew you liked outdoor activities."

"I've got to like something, right?"

"I just figured you liked work." Cheeky fucking shit.

"Shut up. It's quiet out here. That's what I like about hiking."

"So you just like being alone."

"I brought you out here, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but have you brought anyone else out here? This isn't something you do with your nonexistent friends, right?"

"I do have friends. They're just loud. Bringing people out here would just ruin the quiet."

There was a few seconds of silence while Eren presumably processed the information. "So why bring me out here?"

Levi took a deep breath. "I thought you might enjoy it." And because apparently that house was doing quite the number on him.

Eren stopped talking after that, apparently satisfied with the answer, but after a while shouted, "Wait! You said we might be out here for two days right? Where are we going to sleep?!"

Levi brushed him of. "We're getting there. Just be patient." Then he added with a hidden grin, "We'll probably get there sooner if you'd stop twirling around like an idiot."

"Oh fuck off!"

They continued their journey, and Eren, even though he wasn't spinning around anymore, still took in as much of the scenery as he could. Levi was glad that he hadn't been wrong about the idea that Eren liked being outside.

Sunlight had been tinted a pale green by the new leaves of the tall, thin trees. The strands that hadn't been filtered green flitted through the branches in long strands of gold. It brightened up the ground below growing baby ferns, tall grasses, and other such plants that were beginning to cover the dead foliage from autumn. They even got to see a couple deer.

This, unbeknownst to Levi, was exactly the sort of thing that often gave Eren inspiration to write. Seeing beautiful imagery automatically made Eren want to describe it in writing. To see it he could capture the beauty of what he saw in words. Eren spared a glance to Levi, and a fleeting thought passed through his mind:

How would he describe Levi?

Blushing, Eren quickly averted his gaze. He couldn't look at Levi for a while after that. He knew he was supposed to be trying to fall in love with Levi, but ever since he decided that, being around Levi started to feel so awkward. And he was pretty sure that Levi had noticed.

"Did you want to take a break soon?" Levi asked suddenly. It had been about half an hour since lunch.

"A break?"

"Yeah."

"Uh, I guess? Why, are you tired?"

Levi didn't answer. He didn't even stop. He just plowed right through with a befuddled Eren attempting to follow close behind. Pushing through the last of the greenery Eren found himself at the edge of a clearing and…

"What the fuck?"

… a very large, luxury, lakeside cottage with what looked like Levi's BMW parked in front.

"You like it? We don't often use it since no one in my family really likes the woods enough to live there, but it's great for entertaining guests or a quick getaway."

He couldn't believe it. Eren just couldn't believe it. "You mean to tell me, you forced me to hike three hours to get to one of your many vacation homes when we could have just _driven up the driveway_?"

"Don't be silly. The driveway was miles away when we started hiking. Besides, I thought you'd like an adventure. And look!" Levi called out in gleeful teasing. "No one stole my damn car!"

Eren had no words for him. Not because he couldn't think of anything to say, oh no he had plenty things to say, but because he couldn't form the words with his jaw hanging open like it was. Levi headed for the cottage, but halted after realizing the Eren was still rooted in place.

"Are you coming?"

"Why…?" Eren managed slowly.

Levi rolled his eyes. "I told you it was a surprise."

"But… you said…"

"Eren, just because I like walking through the woods sometimes, doesn't mean I actually like everything else that comes with hiking, nature, and camping. I like working, indoor plumbing, thank you very much."

"And the car…"

"I had one of the chauffeurs we have on hand drive it up here after we left. Like hell if I was actually going to leave my car on the side of the fucking road."

"You… You lied to me!" Eren accused.

"I never lied."

"But you didn't tell me about this!"

"Yes, hence the "surprise" part of it." Levi strutted off like the badass motherfucker he was, leaving Eren behind yet again.

Eren stuttered, trying to find excuses as to why Levi was a terrible person for doing something like that, but he couldn't get past the first couple of words. There just wasn't a compelling argument since Levi really didn't do anything wrong.

Eren was just a sore loser.

"Hey! You coming or what?"

* * *

><p><strong>Hah! Eren got duped.<strong>

**Also, wow, you guys REALLY liked that last chapter! I got so many reviews… so shocking! Though… I do believe quite a few of you only took advantage of the fact that told you to tell me what you had for dinner when I distinctly remember then telling you NOT to…**

**But shout out to the one who had Burger King! You made me panic in believing I'd uploaded this chapter instead of chapter 9 last week! So kudos to you! :D**

**All in all, I do appreciate and enjoy all of your comments, and I look forward to seeing what else you have to say! :D So go, my children! Review! Review to your heart's content!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


	11. Deep in the Woods

**It's a liiiiiittle late today mostly cuz I went to see the last Hobbit movie…. And I have to cook for people later… Damn it… BUT HERE IT IS! :D**

**I… don't know what else I have to say here… So enjoy the next chapter! :D**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11: Deep in the Woods<strong>

The cottage, which was way too big to really be called a cottage in Eren's opinion, was just as luxurious as the mansion. Only instead of polished marble there was finished wood, probably mahogany or something. It was one floor but apparently had five bedrooms, a three car garage, and-

"Is that a hot tub? On the deck?"

"Yes. You didn't bring a swimsuit did you?" Eren shook his head. "Yeah, that's what I thought. I'm sure there's something here we could use though, if you really wanted to use it."

Eren might have to take Levi up on that offer.

Even so, despite the luxuries of the place, there were several key differences that Eren enjoyed. The size, for one. While it was extremely large for a cottage, it didn't have an unnecessary abundance of useless rooms. The decoration of the cottage was another thing. The décor was less "I'm a super fancy, 19th century rich person whose own toilet probably costs more than you'll ever make in your life" and much more down to Earth. Sure the furniture was probably expensive as hell, but it didn't look like it. It looked much comfier than that.

But the best part about the cottage, was that Eren found it easier to breath here. The suffocating feeling he'd always felt pressing down on him in the mansion was nowhere to be found. The walls weren't closing in, and there were no darkening corners. Not even a little itching in the back of his mind.

And he didn't know why that was.

"So where do I put my stuff?" Eren asked.

"Give it here. I'll take care of it." Levi grabbed hold of Eren's bag and disappeared for a minute, leaving Eren standing awkwardly in the hallway. He fidgeted in place.

Throughout all of yesterday and today, Eren had been going through periods where one minute he'd be as comfortable with Levi as ever and the very next feel so awkward he was pretty sure that if there were other people around him they would start feeling awkward. It was painfully obvious that his plan to woo himself for Levi (like that doesn't sound wrong) was failing miserably and potentially damaging their fragile relationship. Of course, giving up was not in the Eren Jaeger game.

But… for once Eren had no idea what he was doing.

Every other time Eren had set his mind to do something, he could do it. Beat up some bullies? Hell yeah. Prove Jean wrong? Oh hell fucking yeah. Beat the other team at dodgeball? He'd have to swim through the tears of the losers who didn't take the game seriously enough, but he'd do it. That's why, even though he wasn't the most popular or even really all that well liked by quite a few people, he was always picked first for teams. He never gave up.

But he knew how to fight! He knew how to tear down an opponent, how to make them wallow in their own misery. But building? How did one go about doing something like that? It's been years since Eren's had to make friends and he's had no experience whatsoever when it comes to dating. What was he supposed to do?

Eren was too good at ruining a relationship, and he felt like that was exactly what he was doing.

But what would he do?

Who exactly could he ask about this?

Asking his friends would only mean admitting he was wrong… again… and Eren wasn't quite ready to do that just yet. He could only imagine the looks on everyone's faces, particularly Jean, Reiner, and Ymir's, when he told them. There was no way to contact Chef Hannes and ask him, since he was basically the only one he could tell and who could give advice on this sort of thing. And the only one who he could ask right then and there was the one person who shouldn't know!

He just had to tough it out until he could talk to Chef Hannes. He could handle that right…? It wouldn't be too difficult, right?

Eren groaned, falling to the floor in a miserable crouch. Fuck this stupid marriage…

"Hey, you alright?"

Eren gasped, lifting his head. He hadn't heard Levi come back. "Uh, yeah." Eren stood, unnecessarily smoothing out his beyond wrinkled clothes, then gave Levi as convincing a smile as he could. "I'm fine." Levi wasn't convinced. Pushing the last of his confusing thoughts regarding Levi and the marriage to the back of his mind, Eren tried again. "Seriously, I'm fine."

"You can say that all you want, but it still won't be true." Yup, the one thing Eren didn't need: an observant Levi. "But, whatever. Now that we're here, what do you want to do?"

"Me?" Eren questioned, almost incredulous. "Today is your day! You decide!"

Levi only shrugged. "My only plan was hiking up here and spending the night. We've already completed one and the only way to complete the other is doing other things until tomorrow. Pick something," he commanded.

"No," Eren said defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I refuse. Today is your day, now decide. It's not like I know what there is to do here, anyway."

"You are such a brat." Finally, after a minute, Levi sighed. "Do you… want to sit on the dock?" he asked awkwardly.

"I don't know. Do _you_?" It didn't take long for Levi's glare to make Eren rethink his last words. "Alright! Let's go sit on the dock!" He rushed out and away from the menacing look.

* * *

><p>The water below the dock was far enough away so that only Eren's toes were submerged. If he tried he could get about half of his foot, but seeing as how it was early spring the water was really far too cold for anything more than his toes. Still, it was nice to feel something that wasn't his dirt filled shoes. Eren surveyed the half green trees surrounding the large lake as Levi plopped down next to him, letting his own feet dangle as well.<p>

"My friends are hanging out in a lake house that would probably be like this…" Eren sighed, now missing his friends horribly. "Do you think they would be nearby?"

Levi shook his head. "I doubt it. There isn't another building around here for miles. Besides, this is a cottage, not a lake house."

"Oh whatever!" Eren scoffed, resisting the urge to splash Levi. "Don't get all uppity just because your fancy second house is called a "cottage"!"

"I didn't take you as a person who'd use the word "uppity"," Levi chuckled. "And besides, this is going to be your "fancy second house" soon, too, you know." Eren groaned. Great. Now not only was he lonely because he was thinking about his friends, but now he was back to thinking of the dreaded and inevitable marriage. Just when he thought he'd catch a break. But he pushed aside his bitter feelings as best as he could. It was far better to feel lonely than bitter. Not to mention feeling bitter would only make his plan that much harder. Besides, he was just reminded of something he was now much more curious about.

"Speaking of what's going to be…" Eren swallowed down the lump in his throat, "mine soon… What's our last name going to be…?" Hearing the marriage and his friends in the same sentence had reminded him of their previous questions. And since he and Levi were no longer fighting, Eren figured now would be as good a time as any.

Levi shrugged. "The most logical option would be to combine our last names like we will with the company." Oh, well that makes sense. At least he won't have to suffer through being called Eren Voclain, no matter how much his friends liked the sound of it. "Why?"

"My friends were curious when they visited," Eren rushed, brushing it off. "So… Jaeger-Voclain, huh?"

"What makes you think your name will go first?" Levi scoffed.

"Well, why shouldn't it?" Eren wondered, shrugging his shoulders. "It'll sound a lot better anyway. I mean, Voclain-Jaeger? Really?"

"It doesn't sound any different to me."

Eren rolled his eyes. "That's just because you're weird."

It was a trivial matter, and one that Levi didn't want to deal with at the moment. "Well, we'll have plenty of time to discuss that later. We aren't getting married for a while." In order to keep those bitter feelings down, Eren looked around through the surrounding trees again, only to remind himself of his friends once more.

He wondered what they were doing right now…

"Probably trashing the place and missing you." Had he said that out loud? Or was Levi a mind reader now? "You said it very softly. I almost didn't hear." Oh. No, he's probably just a mind reader.

A little embarrassed now, Eren fiddled with his hands. "I just… miss them is all," he mumbled. "I would be with them right now if it weren't for…" Eren didn't want to say it. He was suddenly getting very tired of hearing about it.

"You have very good friends, you know," Levi said suddenly, startling Eren slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"Just that. You have very good friends who care about you."

Eren leaned closer to Levi, letting his hand closest to Levi support his weight. "How would you know?" he asked, suspicious. "You've never met them, and those five minutes where you told me off for giving them a tour doesn't count."

"First of all," Levi started, holding up a finger. "We both know that was hardly just a tour, and second of all, I did actually get to meet some of them." He then flicked Eren on the nose.

Eren shrank back, rubbing his abused nose. "You talked to some of them? Who?"

Shit, Levi didn't remember… fuck, what were their names? "Christa." That one he knew for sure. Then there was that two toned kid… Kind of looked like a horse… "Jean." And one more… the freckly kid. "And Marco. Although I may just be guessing on those last two."

"Jean?!" Eren let out a distressed groan, his head falling to his hands. "Oh no… What did he say?"

"That you're a jerk and an asshole."

"Oh that's original. Fuckface…"

"It was also mentioned that you and him were secretly the best of friends," Levi teased, "helping each other when you both most needed it." Eren lifted his head, glaring.

"Oh fuck off, when have we ever helped each other?" He was blushing, so that made it obvious to Levi that no matter how much Eren denied it, he still had a soft spot for his supposed enemy. Just like Jean.

"Well, according to your friends, you saved his ass in a fight, and he often helped you with your…" –should he?– "… episodes." Might as well. It was, after all, the only way he'd be able to find out more about them, and it was probably better for their still extremely fragile relationship if there weren't any secrets. Honesty was generally the best policy, right? Especially if that was the main reason for most drama that happens in the relationships in TV shows, movies, and books.

Then again, watching the color drain from Eren's face, only to be replaced by worried panic might have proved otherwise.

"W… What? What do you mean by episodes…?" Eren was trying to play ignorant of the episodes in hopes that Levi wasn't talking about what he thought he was talking about.

It didn't help.

"Your friends mentioned that in early high school, you had episodes of rage and got help for them." If you were gonna ride the train, you might as well toot the horn.

Eren exploded. "Oh fuck no! I can't believe it! They told you?! _They fucking told you_?!" he screamed, shooting up from his seat.

"Eren. Eren!" Levi leapt for Eren as quick as he could, throwing his arm out and grasping Eren's wrist before he got too far.

Eren tried to shake it off. "No! Fucking let go! I can't believe they told you! How could they?!"

"Eren, calm down!" Levi knew that was probably the worst thing to say to Eren at this point, especially considering that Eren's face was no longer red from embarrassment but from fury. It was too late for "calm down" to work.

"No!" Eren howled, trying to rip his wrist from Levi's grasp. "No, I won't calm down! My fucking friends who you said apparently care about me fucking told the guy that I hated the most at the time something that I didn't want him, or anyone else for that matter, to know!"

"Eren-"

"You don't understand!" Tears were starting to form in Eren's eyes. Maybe the some of the redness in his cheeks was from embarrassment. "The whole reason those stupid episodes happened was because of this stupid marriage! And then they went and told you! Let me go!"

"Eren, listen to me! Your friends only told me because they thought it would help you!" Levi tried to reason, still holding on to a struggling Eren, though his grip wouldn't last forever.

"That doesn't give them the right to spout off my personal business!"

"It does if the person you're marrying is concerned that you're mentally unstable and could hurt him!"

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realize I came off as such an insane lunatic!"

Goddamn it, Levi. "Fuck… No, I… I didn't mean… That didn't come out right. Look," Levi placed a gentle hand on Eren's other hand, the one currently trying to scratch off Levi's hold. It was a relief when he stopped at the touch. "I pressured your friends into telling me more about you because I was curious, and, at the time, you would hardly look at me. They told me not to tell you because you'd freak out, which you did, but I figured you had the right to know that I knew. Although I probably could have done better at breaking the news to you. And all they told me was that you had some episodes where you were really angry in high school, but you got help for it. Was I concerned that you might be mentally unstable? Yes, for a bit. But I don't think you're an insane lunatic. So sit back down, alright?"

Eren glared for a long time, straight at Levi, breathing hard, before ripping his wrist out of Levi's grasp and sitting back down. This time, however, instead of letting his legs dangle, he wrapped his arms around them, letting his chin rest on his knees. A harsh silence fell over them. Levi watched Eren carefully and cautiously while Eren started hard at the water, occasionally wiping away the tears.

Breaking the silence took all of Levi's willpower. "I've had my share of troubles too."

"Oh?" Sharp and sarcastic. Great going with handling that Levi.

"Yes, oh," Levi retorted, just as sarcastic. But he quickly softened his tone. "I wasn't willing to accept marrying you when I was your age. I hated it. I loathed it with every fiber of my being. I was watching everyone around me find love and be happy while I sat on the sidelines waiting for a ten year old to grow up."

The sharp, angry lines on Eren's face ebbed away. "O-… Oh…" His response was much quieter this time, almost shy. Levi hoped that meant Eren was actually taking what he said to heart.

Riding on the hope that it was, Levi continued. "I wasn't allowed to date or do anything relating to dating either, so during my senior year, I tried to… well… I tried to have sex with my best friend. Just to spite my family."

"Oh?" Curious this time. "W… who?"

The only other person who he truly considered to be his best friend in every way besides Hanji. "Erwin."

"Erwin?!" Eren jolted, surprised by his outburst and shrunk back into his little ball. "… Was it good?" he muttered sheepishly.

"What? Oh, no. We didn't get that far. We kissed and shit but then one of the maids came in and told me to stop, because otherwise they'd have to tell my father and grandfather and that… that was one conversation that I didn't want to have. Erwin agreed with them so… it didn't happen."

"Why Erwin?"

"He was the only friend I could trust enough to do something like that with. There's Hanji but… that's a whole different story." And one he'd rather not get into right now. He had a story to tell after all.

"Did you… love him?" There was a look in Eren's eyes that Levi just couldn't place. Even so, he continued.

"Definitely not. We are not good for each other. Besides, being in love with someone actually requires feelings for the other person, and we didn't have those kinds of feelings." Eren bit his lip and shuffled in his seat, suddenly appearing very uncomfortable. But before Levi could ask, Eren let out a laugh through his nose.

"Well, I guess the tabloids were wrong about your engagement to him," he joked weakly.

"They were only half wrong," Levi returned, hoping to continue the light atmosphere. It didn't work.

"Yeah…" Now Eren was back to being uncomfortable and closed up tighter than Russian spy. At least he assumed Russian spies were tight lipped.

Time for Levi to play his trump card.

"Do you want to know why I'm okay with marrying you?"

Not even that managed to change Eren's mood. "Didn't you say that you just sort of… accepted it?"

Levi resisted rolling his eyes. "Yes, well, do you want to know why I accepted it?"

That grabbed Eren's attention, but he still tried to act all nonchalant. "Not if you don't want to tell me. I mean that's your personal business, and I don't want to-"

"Do you?"

"Yes…"

Levi almost laughed. "When I was in college, I still hated everything that had to do with the marriage. I wasn't trying to fuck my friends, at least, but I still hated it. But, while I was in college, I met a guy who was… for lack of a better and less clichéd term, perfect. He was smart, well-mannered, and conveniently handsome. He was actually quite generic, looking back… There wasn't much else to him besides that. We talked, hit it off, and started dating."

"But I thought you weren't allowed to date!" Eren cried, clearly miffed.

"I wasn't. My family didn't know. It was one of the perks of going to live in a dorm those first two years." Eren opened his mouth. "I didn't do it with him either, just for the record, because I know that was going to be your next question." And then promptly shut it.

"What happened?"

"I'm sure you've seen this scenario plenty of times with your friend Christa: someone only becoming friends with you because you have money. Turns out he only cared about the money I had. He'd try to milk as much out of me as he could, then brag to all his friends and other conquests about how I was wrapped around his finger and would give him anything he wanted."

"Wait, he cheated on you?!"

Levi held up four fingers. "With four other people."

"Four?! What did you do? Please tell me you punched him in the face!" If it had been Eren, that guy would have had the shit beat out of him. And then would have had to deal with his friends and, more importantly, his crazy sister.

"No, unfortunately I didn't. Instead, I exposed him to everyone else he was dating, ruined his reputation at school so no one would date him, ruined his reputation within his heavily Christian family, and ruined his name in the business world so he'd never get a job more than a step above entry level for at least five years after college."

Eren's jaw fell open. Forget beating the guy up…

Remind him never to get on the bad side of Levi.

Ever.

"I don't know what happened to him after that." Levi said, inspecting his nails like they were more interesting than his cheating ex's whereabouts. They probably were. "He disappeared for a while, but after I ruined him I couldn't care less about what happened to him. I memorized his look though. That look all people have when all they want to do is butter you up for your money. Almost everyone I met had it, and I knew then that it would be near impossible to find someone on my own. Especially after I launched Recon with Erwin."

Eren picked at the dock below him. "So being in an arranged marriage meant that you wouldn't have to deal with the heartbreak of finding someone on your own…" he clarified. It was the same idea that his own dad had given him. "And that's why you're okay with it."

"Partially. There's one more reason why I'm okay with it, and it didn't show up until recently."

"…What?"

When Eren lifted his head, he saw Levi gazing at him, completely straight faced. "You. When you got out of that car and stared at me with eyes filled with sarcasm and disgust, I swear I could have laughed from relief. You were honest with me and didn't care about my wealth, despite being an annoying-as-fuck twat. It's clichéd, I know, but still the truth."

"What can I say," Eren laughed nervously. "You were everything that I hated. You were rich, classy, famous, antisocial, rich, famous, had a permanent glare on your face… Did I mention rich and famous?"

"You may have mentioned that. Although, I'm not sure why you hate money so much."

"It's not the money! Money itself is fine… great even. But… the more you have, the more expectations and responsibilities you have. You have to act a certain way to be accepted, and I was never good at doing what I was told…" The mood around Eren started drooping dangerously, so Levi did what he did best.

"You? Never."

Sarcasm.

"I'm… I'm too violent to be high class…"

It wasn't working.

"It's one of your charms," Levi tried again.

Eren shook his head solemnly. "It's not… Do… do you know why I had to get help…? For my episodes…?"

Oh. That's why it wasn't working.

But at much as Levi wanted to know, as hard as he'd tried to get Eren to open up… "… You don't have to tell me just because I told you something." He didn't want Eren to feel forced to let it out.

Eren stared straight into Levi's eyes. "I want to tell you." Despite having sounded so sorrowful, his words held a certain directness to them.

"… Then go ahead."

Eren took a deep breath. It had been a long time since he'd revisited this. "In my last episode… before I got help… I hurt my best friend… really badly… I was so angry with this whole arrangement. I felt cheated, like I wasn't allowed to be happy. It made me angry and… sometimes I just lost control. I could never decide when they happened, they just did. I broke all of the windows in my house one time. Another time I elbowed a teacher's nose in… And then I knocked my best friend unconscious after pushing him into a glass coffee table. I didn't even remember doing any of those things either… It messed me up so badly, Levi…"

Eren wanted to hide himself. Even now, years later, he was still ashamed. From denting lockers to breaking in windows, hurting Armin was by far the worst thing he'd done during those episodes.

"I've gotten better," Eren reassured Levi quickly. "Hell, I haven't felt this great while thinking about the marriage in my entire life."

"And that must be saying something considering you're practically bawling your eyes out."

Bringing a hand to his eyes he found out that he was, in fact, crying. "Shut up…" He rubbed at his eyes, getting rid of the evidence.

"Feeling a little better?" Levi asked once Eren had calmed down.

Actually, he was. "Yeah," Eren smiled. "Yeah, I am. It's… nice talking to you."

Levi felt like he'd just hit the jackpot. Not only had Eren opened up to him, but he'd actually liked it. If he pressed harder… would he find out why Eren's been acting so weird lately? And maybe learn something about why Eren was tired all the time? Levi decided to push his luck. "Well, then is there anything else you want to talk about?"

Yes. "No."

"Really?"

No. "Yes."

Levi let out a long sigh. Good things to those who wait… unfortunately… "Eren, I can't force you to tell me anything you don't want me to. But, I will always be here if you have anything you want to say. Just remember that."

Eren opened his mouth to tell Levi he had nothing to tell, but nothing came out. The lie was there, right on his tongue, but he could feel it dissolve. And bubbling right at the back of his throat was something else.

Tell him.

Just tell him.

Everything will just be better if you tell him.

Eren's emotions were overflowing.

"I…"

Levi's eyes widened. Was Eren actually going to tell him?

"I can't…" He shouldn't… but… he really wanted to now. He wanted to tell Levi, who was such a good listener, who only wanted have a decent relationship with Eren, who was willing to listen, that he wanted a decent relationship too.

"Can't what?" Levi encouraged.

"I can't do this!"

"What do you mean?"

It came pouring out. "The marriage! It was easier to deal with before because at least I could get away with hating you for the rest of my life, but now I don't and… and… you're actually turning out to be pretty cool… and… I don't love you… I don't know how… no matter how hard I try…"

Well… That was probably the last thing Levi ever thought Eren would say… "What? Of course you don't love me. Why do you have to love me?"

Eren threw his hands up. "Because we're getting married! Married people love each other!"

Suddenly, it was clear.

"Eren!" Levi cut off Eren's ramblings, losing patience. "Stop thinking about the marriage! Just stop!"

"What…? But-"

"Stop. All of these problems you're having, the episodes, the anger, the frustration… all of these problems are all stemming from you overthinking this marriage! So just stop!"

Eren was stunned into silence, but only for a moment. "How can I? All my life has been marriage this marriage that! I can't escape it! Even this whole week is about the goddamn marriage!"

"No," Levi emphasized. "This week is about two guys hanging out and trying to get to know each other. That's all. We're not getting married for at _least_ year, if not more, and we aren't even engaged yet, and won't be for months."

"That doesn't mean it won't happen!" Eren argued. "It won't go away just because I don't think about it!"

"But thinking about it is what has you in this frenzy!" How could Levi explain this to Eren? "Thinking about it is what made you act like a little shit when we first met, it's what made you act all weird like this, and it's what caused your damn episodes! Will not thinking about it make it go away? Of course not. It's going to happen and there's nothing you can do about it. But maybe it will help you feel better about everything in general. Now, please…" It wasn't like Levi to beg, but Eren had a special knack for making him to things he didn't normally do. "Promise me you'll stop going on about this godforsaken marriage. I don't want to get to know "Eren, my husband"… I want to know who _you_ are. Just Eren."

Eren gasped and lowered his head, flustered. After a bit, Eren asked, "But what if that doesn't work? What if that's not the problem?"

"Then I will moon everyone at work." Levi mentally begged that that it would work.

Eren snorted, before covering his mouth. He hadn't expected that to come out. "You wouldn't." It was just too absurd for Levi.

"You wanna find out?"

After a second or two, Eren looked up and nodded. "Okay. I'll try."

"And don't try to force yourself to love me either. If we're supposed to love each other, it'll happen on its own." Eren nodded once more, and the relief that hit Levi almost made him sigh out loud. Instead, he simply nodded back. "Good."

There was still a fairly thick layer of tension hanging in the air which made Eren squirm. "So…" he started off awkwardly. "What else did my friends tell you…?" He was scared to ask but felt that it would be best to know. Eren could only hope that they hadn't mentioned anything embarrassing.

Levi had to think about that for a moment before remembering, "Oh, that reminds me. What exactly is the fire truck incident?" The reaction was instant.

"Whatever Jean told you is a lie it was all his fault!"

"Funny, because he said it was all your fault."

"Well he's a fucking liar and a dumbass! It was all his idea! I was just an innocent bystander who got dragged into his delinquent schemes!"

"Somehow I find that hard to believe." Levi kicked some water at Eren's leg playfully.

Eren, letting his legs fall back down into the water, kicked back. "Well, it's the truth. It was his idea and it was not my fault he didn't see the watermelon cart soon enough."

"You were both to blame, I just know it." He splashed Eren again.

Eren paused in his defensive excuses. "Levi, I know where this is going and you don't want it to go there," he warned. "One of us is going to end up in the lake, and I can promise you it won't be me."

Levi smirked in response, and Eren fell into the lake five minutes later. But not after getting Levi thoroughly soaked himself.

And despite getting soaking wet, outside in early April, they both ended up laughing. So Levi decided that was good enough.

* * *

><p>It wasn't until Eren and Levi had taken their showers, because like hell if Levi was going to let Eren walk around soaking wet like that, and put their clothes in the dryer that Levi realized he'd only gotten half his questions answered. Sure he'd found out why Eren had been acting so weird lately (thankfully, after the confession, he'd stopped his weird behavior) but he still had yet to find out anything about Eren's uncontrollable daytime naps. And as of right now, Eren wasn't going to give any information on it.<p>

Levi decided that if he could find out one more thing about Eren, just one more thing (hopefully regarding Eren's sleeping habits), then this trip would be a success.

And if not, at least he'd gotten Eren to trust him a little more.

But since Levi couldn't begin his plan until they went to bed, the rest of the day was fairly uneventful. While Levi was taking his shower and getting their clothes cleaned, Eren explored the house for a bit, explored outside for a bit, and then rushed back in demanding to know why there was boating stuff and yet no boat. That left Levi to explain that there was indeed a boat, it was just in storage. After all, there was no need for a boat at a cottage no one used.

Levi lost track of Eren after that. He assumed that Eren had returned to the outside world to continue exploring or whatever Eren liked to do outside (Levi thinks he remembered seeing Eren writing outside before), but he wasn't quite sure. Not that Levi cared all that much. He himself was exhausted. A pissy, grumbling Eren was annoying, but an energetic and excited Eren was downright terrifying. How in the hell a boy who hadn't been able to keep his eyes open for the past two day still managed to retain so much goddamn energy was beyond him.

Eren had been talking for nearly the entire day! And when the kid wasn't talking, he was bounding around like a bouncy ball. Just watching him hike made Levi want to stop and rest.

And he was supposed to take care of this brat? Hell, if this was how Eren usually was then Eren would have to take care of _him_! Hadn't Eren ever heard of relaxing…?

Somewhere around five or six, with Eren still missing, Levi received a call from, guess who, his father.

"Levi? Where the hell are you two?!" Looks like he'd put on his responsible father mask again.

"We're at the cottage. I left you a note explaining everything." It was right on the table next to the door.

"But _why_?"

"I figured it would be good to get out of the mansion." And it was. Eren was happier, albeit exhausting Levi at the same time. Levi could hear his father's distress over the phone, but couldn't really grasp why it was so important that they remain at the mansion.

"Levi, the rules were-"

"The rules," Levi cut off impatiently, "were spending time together, no sleeping together, getting out of our rooms, and eating meals with each other. There was no rule even remotely close to no leaving the grounds."

"But how is anyone supposed to make sure you follow those rules if you're not here?"

"Relax, we have one of the maids here. It's fine." Actually, he'd given one of the maids the day off with double the pay if they pretended that they had been with Eren and Levi the whole time, but his father wasn't supposed to know that.

There was a long silence at the other end of the phone before Levi heard his father's voice again. "Alright," he reluctantly agreed. "You two can stay there. But I will question whoever is staying with you once you three return, understood?"

So Levi would just have to give the maid a script to memorize of everything they did. "Understood."

Levi hung up, not bothering to hear anything else his father may have had to say. What had gotten into him? Before, his father would have accepted anything Levi had said or did, leaving any discipline to Grandfather. Now he was suddenly demanding order and checking stories? That was bothersome.

"Levi?" Came Eren's slightly timid voice. "Who was that?"

"My father, just checking in."

"He's not mad that we left, is he?"

"Not at all." A little white lie, but not exactly important.

"Oh." Eren bought it. "So what are we going to do for dinner?"

After dinner, aka ordering pizza, Eren mentioned that he'd found some board games and a deck of cards in a closet. The board games were falling apart and old, but the cards were still in playable condition, so they spent the rest of the night playing various card games. They mostly stuck to two player card games, but eventually ended up modifying multiplayer games as well.

Levi won most of them until Uno was brought out. Levi only won once out of the twenty or so rounds they played. So either Eren was extremely lucky, or just really good at Uno…

When Eren started yawning more than usual, Levi put his plan into motion.

"Getting tired?"

"Yeah, a bit," Eren laughed sheepishly. "Where do I sleep?"

"With me."

It took a full twenty seconds for that to process.

"What?!" Eren fell backwards from the shock.

"The master bedroom was the only one that's been properly cleaned, and I will not have you sleep on dirty sheets."

"S-So?!" Eren stuttered, panicked. "The beds all looked made and fine to me!"

"Those were made the last time we were here as a family. Do you know when that last was?"

Eren pushed himself back into a sitting position. "No, how could I?"

"It was when I was still a child." Levi paused for good measure. "I'm 26."

"So what? Why didn't you have any of the other rooms cleaned?"

"Considering that I'm the only person who actually comes here every now and then, there's only one room that needs to be cleaned: the master bedroom."

Eren was getting desperate now. "But… But… the rules! Your dad said we couldn't sleep together!"

"Is my dad here right now?" Levi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… no."

"And are you going to tell him?"

Eren deflated. "… No."

"Then it's settled. Come on, it's time for bed."

Levi heard Eren whine in desperation, but made no other move to argue against it.

Phase one complete. Now all Levi had to do was watch Eren during the night and try to find anything that might lead to daytime exhaustion.

Fun.

* * *

><p><strong>Doop dee do dee do… Fun times…<strong>

**Thank you to all who reviewed again! It's so weird how more people seem to be reading this… But to those who are possibly new, why don't you try reviewing this time? :D I would certainly enjoy it!**

**I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


	12. All We Found Was a Bump in the Road

**Who's ready to see them sleep together? Huh? Anyone? :3**

**Also, this story just got over 100 reviews! :D Thank you all so much! Just for that I'm going to give you this wonderful chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: All We Found Was a Bump in the Road<strong>

Eren was panicking.

Sleep? With Levi?!

That man was way too cunning. If he wanted to know something he wouldn't stop until he got it. But he couldn't let Levi know that! He'd already spilled enough down by the docks, and no amount of "I'll be there for you" or group therapy sessions was going to persuade him into telling Levi about his inability to sleep. It was nice talking to Levi and Eren felt a lot better afterwards, but talking about it wouldn't do anything except get Eren yelled at and within the next couple of days it wouldn't even be a problem anymore.

Eren took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. It wouldn't even be a problem tonight. Simply being next to Levi helped him feel better and made it easier to sleep. If yesterday and that day under the tree was anything to go by, not only would Eren be fast asleep but he'd also end up attached to Levi at some point too. That part he was not looking forward to.

Not only that, but the entire time he was at the cottage there hadn't been a single wisp of darkness in the corners, not one breathe was difficult to breath in. The feelings he always felt at the mansion were nothing but a myth here. That was saying something too, considering that not even being with Levi could get rid of it completely. And that was the reason why Eren had trouble sleeping! He didn't know why he got those feelings, but regardless, he couldn't get them here and Eren was planning on using that to his advantage.

Finally… sleep!

Levi, on the other hand, was confident that he was going to learn something about Eren's strange sleeping patters. He had to. Eren may refuse to tell Levi but whatever was going on was obviously hurting him. So, either he was a masochist or just plain stupid… maybe both. Whatever it was, Levi was going to find out something…

Anything…

He was…

He was going to find out…

THUMP

He was going to find out that Eren was a horrendous sleeper.

Turns out, if Eren wasn't holding on to something, like a pillow or say… Levi, he didn't just toss and turn, oh no, he _flailed_… At least in the beginning.

Eren was fast asleep minutes after hitting the pillow, as close to the edge and as far away from Levi as possible. Then, about half an hour later, he damn near simultaneously stole most of the covers, leaving Levi completely exposed and freezing, then kicked them off. What was the point of stealing the damn covers if he wasn't going to use them?! Of course, once the covers had been properly taken care of by Eren, he splayed himself out like a starfish. What was wrong with this kid?! Was the bed just not comfortable?

Oh, and that thud from before? That was Eren rolling off the bed.

And it didn't wake him up.

At least Eren's pillow had gone with him, so now that he had something to hold on to he was much quieter.

Levi was sorely tempted just to leave him there. He was hell in bed, and not in the good way. And now that he was hugging his pillow like a horny teenager, Eren had stilled in his movements and the only noise was the sound of his soft breathing. Plus, with Eren out, Levi might actually get a decent night's sleep.

But… the floor wasn't really that comfortable. Not to mention that if Eren did spent the rest of the night on the floor, while Levi would have a good, quiet night's sleep he would then have to deal with a very loudly complaining and sore Eren all day tomorrow.

Levi's humanity and his less than thrilled attitude on the idea of a complaining Eren forced himself out of bed and over to the soundly sleeping Eren. He let out a sigh once he laid eyes on the curled up boy who was probably going to have a bruise somewhere on his body from falling onto the floor.

When Levi said he needed to know anything… this wasn't what he meant. Now had Eren woken up from the fall, Levi might have chalked it all up to Eren always getting a bad night's sleep because he would flail so much that it would wake him up. But Eren hadn't woken up… So obviously that wasn't the problem.

Before Levi could haul Eren's clumsy ass back on the bed, he pulled a spare pillow from the closet. He wasn't about to take away the one thing keeping Eren quiet and still, but he wasn't going to leave Eren without a pillow either.

After placing the pillow on the bed, where Eren's head should have been, Levi then turned his attention to the problem of actually getting Eren back on the bed.

Levi didn't really like the idea of waking Eren up, so he would somehow have to pick Eren up without disturbing him at the same time.

Squatting down, Levi gently slipped one hand under Eren's knees and the other under his shoulder. In small, careful nudges, Levi maneuvered his hands and Eren's body so that when he eventually did pick Eren up, he'd be holding Eren bridal style. Levi didn't actually know how heavy Eren really was, so he braced himself for the worst and…

Almost over did it. How was a brat who was taller than him still lighter than him? … Levi didn't _think_ he was getting fat…

Rolling his eyes at the sudden and out of character self-conscious thought, Levi made to place Eren back on the bed, but faltered when he felt Eren curling into his body. Eren had loosened his hold on the pillow in favor of making himself more comfortable in Levi's arms.

"Don't get used to it, kid," Levi muttered in a whisper, all while trying to pour ice cold water on the warmth growing in his chest. Finally placing Eren back on the bed, Levi watched as Eren resumed his previous hold on his pillow and settle back into the mattress. Levi knelt down and continued to stare at his fiancé.

The last time Levi had seen Eren this peaceful was under the tree in the backyard of the mansion.

He was just as beautiful then too. Much more vibrant in the open sunlight rather than a dark bedroom in the woods, but still just as beautiful.

Levi lightly brushed a couple of strands of Eren's hair back and tracing his fingers down and along the side of his face, wondering just how he was managing to fall for such talkative, energetic, and extreme brat who had just barely begun to trust him.

He really wished that Hanji hadn't been right all along.

* * *

><p>In the end, Levi learned nothing.<p>

Eren, though a bit rough in the beginning, fell asleep like any normal person and stayed asleep until morning like any normal person… Except for the part where he fell out of bed again. Levi wasn't sure when it happened, since he'd been asleep the second time, but he ended up putting Eren back in bed before the boy could wake up. Other than that, there was nothing to indicate that Eren had any trouble sleeping at night.

The only thing that could be counted as suspicious was that, despite going to bed kind of early, Eren slept in until noon. As far as Levi knew, Eren had been getting up a lot earlier over the week, so why would he sleep in today?

Levi pondered over the possible reasons in his head while he read one of the dusty books that had been left at the cottage. Meanwhile, a newly awoken Eren was scrounging up something to eat for lunch before they left. All they had was leftover pizza, but it wouldn't hurt to look, right?

"Just eat the rest of the pizza already," Levi called out, not even looking up from his book. "There's nothing else in there, and if there is then it's probably not even recognizable as food anymore let alone edible."

"It doesn't hurt to check!" Eren called back. "Ow!"

"Oh? Did you get hurt?"

"Shut up! I just bumped my head, alright?"

Levi snickered to himself. It would never be boring with Eren around, that much was certain. As if to prove that, Eren came waltzing in with a cold slice of pizza in one hand and the other piece still shoved into his mouth.

"Web-"

"Do _not_," Levi interrupted sharply, "think that you are going to say anything with pizza hanging out of your mouth."

Eren made a face, but finished off that slice before he tried talking again. "When are we leaving?"

"So eager to return?" Levi almost laughed again at Eren's small glare. "We can leave whenever you're ready."

Eren nodded, but then hesitated. "We're not hiking back right?"

"Definitely not. And not just because my father wants us back soon."

"Are you implying something?" Eren prodded, a slight smile on his face.

Levi turned around on the couch to look straight at Eren and with all of the seriousness he could muster said, "The backwoods savages are more likely to attack us if we hike back."

But Eren just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, you suck."

Levi smirked in victory and went back to his book, leaving Eren to finish packing.

Once Eren was ready to leave, Levi had already been ready hours ago, they set off back towards the mansion. Eren gazed back at the cottage as they drove away, the trees quickly blocking it from sight even though they hadn't made it off the driveway yet.

For some reason, he couldn't help but have this strange feeling of impending doom the farther they drove.

No.

Eren knew exactly why he felt like that. He was terrified that all of those horrible sensations of the mansion would still be there, just waiting to wrap themselves back around his throat. He wasn't sure why they'd disappeared at the cottage, but he was pretty sure that spending one night someplace else wouldn't get rid of them for good. But Eren would just have to endure it for one more night. Just one more night and he could go home.

"You alright?" Levi asked suddenly. Eren's discomfort at going back must have been obvious.

Still he nodded, refusing to let anyone know. "I'm fine."

"_Eren_," Levi warned.

"Drop it," Eren snapped firmly. Turns out Eren really wasn't a very good liar, especially not around Levi. Of course, that still didn't mean Eren had to tell him anything. "I'm fine," he restated, leaving no room for argument.

It probably took a lot of effort for Levi to keep calm, but after only a moment's pause he said, "Just remember, if you ever feeling like telling me the truth, I'll be listening."

Eren regarded the soft words carefully, feeling a sort of comfort from them and eventually even smiling from them.

Levi, despite the very rocky start to their relationship this week, had been nothing but a sort of rock for Eren. He'd tried to see eye to eye with Eren, tried to be friends with Eren, tried to help Eren, went along with Eren's schemes… and listened to Eren, like he actually cared about what he had to say. And Eren was eternally grateful for that.

Maybe… that's why Eren always felt better around Levi. Levi was that one sliver of hope, the one good thing about being forced into this. While they had both been very against the marriage, they at least could take comfort in each other. Levi really was in the same boat as him so… could he trust Levi enough to tell him everything? About his feelings?

They were getting close to the mansion now, Eren could recognize the nearby neighborhoods. They'd spent the nearly two hour drive back in almost complete silence, a thoughtful yet comfortable silence.

Well, if Levi really would listen like he said he would… then what was the harm in trying? He'd be fine tomorrow so it would be okay right?

Right.

_Bzzt bzzt_

Eren jumped, not expecting his phone to go off. His friends should still be at the lake house and there was not very good reception there… Who was calling him? His dad?

"Hello?"

"Eren, you picked up." It was his dad.

"Yeah… why wouldn't I?" Eren asked, confused.

"I just… thought you'd be angry with me," Grisha answered cautiously.

"No… at least not now anyway." Eren had, after all, decided to put this whole marriage thing behind him and try to stop focusing on it, per Levi's request. He couldn't stay mad at his dad forever. Besides, this week had turned out better than expected.

"Oh! Okay. I was just calling to find out when would be a good time for you to come over."

Wait, come over? What? "Come over? I'm coming back tomorrow, I thought that's what was agreed on… right? Unless you were going to pick me up today," Eren couldn't contain the tiny bit of excitement that slipped through.

"Oh… They… haven't told you yet?"

"Told me?" Eren glanced back over to Levi curiously. He was sporting a bit of a worried face, which made Eren worried as well. "Told me what?"

"Ah shit…" Grisha breathed on the other side. Eren could almost see him rubbing a hand over his face, just like he always did when he had bad news. "You're not coming back tomorrow."

"What?" It was a small whimper, one that Eren had barely been able to get out in the first place. "What did you say?"

"Francis Voclain, Levi's grandfather, has insisted that you remain at the mansion until he and his wife returns so that he can be sure to meet you."

"And when will he return…?" Eren could vaguely remember asking this question before, but could no longer remember what the answer was supposed to be, even if he tried.

"In a few weeks, but the exact date isn't known. Which is why he wants you to stay-"

Eren ended the call, gripping his phone with white knuckles. The silence was no longer very comfortable.

"Did you know?" Eren whispered.

Levi didn't have to ask. "I received a call this morning from my father while you were still asleep."

"And when exactly were you planning on telling me?"

"Eren-"

"Well?!" Eren shouted, startling Levi a bit. "When exactly was I going to be informed about this?!"

"Eren, just listen-"

"What?! Why was it so impossible to tell me back at the cottage?!" Eren could feel the angry bubble up. He couldn't stop it. How could he? How could Levi? Eren jumped out of the car, not even noticing when they'd gotten back to the mansion.

"Eren!" Levi followed.

"And what about the two fucking hours we spent in the car, huh?! Could you not squeeze it in with all the talking we were doing?!" Levi glared at the sarcastic remark, losing patience.

"I was planning on waiting until we got back to the mansion so we could discuss this calmly with my father who actually knows the details about this change of plans, but clearly that isn't going to happen! I wasn't expecting your dad to call you!"

"You left me in the dark!" Eren accused, pointing a finger at Levi. "You purposefully kept something important from me!"

"What difference would it have made?!"

"All of the difference in the world!" Eren took shaky breaths, sniffling a bit while trying to keep back tears. "And you have no idea how…" His lip was trembling. He needed to get away. He needed to be alone.

"Eren, I-"

"Leave me alone."

"Eren-"

"I said leave me alone!" That last fleeting look Eren gave Levi felt like a punch to the face. Betrayed.

In one simple mistake, Levi knew that he'd just inadvertently crushed what little trust Eren might have had with him.

Eren ran back inside, past Carlton who'd been on the porch waiting for them to return. Levi let him go, knowing that there was nothing he could say to Eren at this point. He just had to wait until Eren had calmed down enough to talk to.

"Damn it!" Levi swore, bringing his fist down hard on the roof of his car. Why did Eren have to take it so far out of proportion? He knew that their relationship was shaky at best, but not telling Eren about the change of plans as soon as he found out? That's what he was angry about? And he was still angry even though Levi had clearly stated that they were going to talk about? What the hell?!

… Or was it more than that? Did Eren have some other reason to be mad? Damn it…

Carlton shook his head, pretending to be a father figure again. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd just-"

"_Don't. Even. Start_."

* * *

><p>Eren was panting and gasping for breath by the time he'd reached his room, his prison, and it wasn't because he'd been running up stairs. No, this came from that suffocation, that fucking horrible feeling that refused to leave him. The feeling that attacked him the moment he stepped foot on this property.<p>

He quickly slammed the door shut, locking it for good measure. Unshed tears blurred his vision, but nothing else had changed. It was still the same dark suffocating room. So Eren wobbled over to his pillow throne. He collapsed into it, face buried into one of the makeshift armrests. Anything to try and forget the closing walls, the darkening corners.

He hated it here.

He hated this marriage!

He hated Lev-

…

No.

He didn't hate Levi… But he couldn't trust him either. How could he…? How could he?! Eren had every right to know what was going on just as much as Levi. Why would he keep something like that from Eren? Especially after spewing all that bullshit about Eren being able to tell him anything.

How was Eren expected to tell Levi everything while Levi didn't have to tell him shit?

And now Eren was stuck here… for another three weeks, at best. All because some old fart wanted him here. What was the big problem with the idea of Eren not being at the mansion the moment Levi's grandpa got back? It's not like it would kill him. Although, who could ever tell when an old person was going to die…

Regardless, it wasn't fair.

Eren couldn't spend another three weeks here! Hell, he could hardly spend one here!

And of course Eren's dad couldn't say no. He'd probably sell his own soul to appease the Voclain house. No, that wasn't right. He'd sell Eren's soul first. He pretty much already did, what with the whole marriage plan.

It felt like his first night here again.

No one to talk to, no one to help him. He was an outcast again, someone who was only there for a means to an end. He couldn't call Armin or Mikasa until tomorrow at the earliest, his parents wouldn't be any help, and he couldn't even bring himself to confide in Chef Hannes. Chef Hannes, who'd always had the best of intentions for Eren, was still a harsh reminder of his situation. And Levi…

Levi was the worst reminder of all.

No matter what he'd done over the past couple of days, no matter what he said, Levi couldn't stop this anymore. Of that, Eren was sure.

Eren choked holding back his sobs.

Even with everything that had happened this past week, the confidant he'd made in Chef Hannes, the friend he'd found in Levi, the oblivious father he'd found in Carlton, Eren couldn't help but feel even more alone than that first night here. Because the only thing worse than having no one to talk to is having someone you can't talk to.

What had Eren done that first night to help him feel better? Oh right, he'd pulled out his notebook and started writing.

Eren shot up to reaching a hand out for his backpack, where he'd put his notebook so he could write at the cottage if need be, but that hand instead found itself pulling at Eren's hair in frustration.

In his fit of rage, Eren had left his backpack in Levi's fancy ass car. There was no way Eren would be able to withstand leaving his room let alone going to find Levi and asking for his backpack.

Eren truly felt like crying now.

What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to deal with this?

He was stuck at this godforsaken mansion for another three weeks, had no more methods to help him sleep or even nap, had no one to talk to or confide in, had no one who could help him at this point, and his one distraction was in the hands of the one person he couldn't talk to.

With nothing to distract him from his harmful thinking and horrid emotions, Eren could feel the walls shrink smaller, smaller, smaller. The air was thick, unbreathable, choking him. It was becoming darker, darker, darker…

There were footsteps. Outside his door.

Eren gasped, his gaze immediately falling to his door, fearful.

Was it Levi?

Another set of footsteps.

He could only hope that no one would try to talk to him now. It was the last thing he needed.

Stifling whatever noises he'd been making, Eren could vaguely hear a conversation outside his room. One that was obviously meant to be quiet.

"Don't even think about it." That was Levi. Definitely Levi.

"I just need to make sure he's alright." And Carlton? Trying to check up on Eren? He never could read the mood of a room right…

"Obviously he's not, and trying to force him into conversation right now isn't going to help."

"I have to do _something_."

"No, actually you don't. Doing something now will only make it worse."

"But he needs to know what's going to happen from now on."

"And he will," Eren heard Levi snap sharply. "But right now he just needs space to calm down. He'll come out when he's ready." Silence fell, and then finally Eren could hear fading footsteps and a door shut. Carlton had left and so had Levi.

Eren stood, ripping the soft towels from his pillow throne.

Why did Levi have to know him so well?

The blankets came off, leaving the carefully arranged pillows to fall apart.

Why did Levi have to be such a great person?

Eren grabbed the closest pillows and threw them anywhere he could as hard as he could. He didn't care where they ended up.

Why did Levi have to go and ruin it all…?

Eren's fists were shaking. He couldn't see the pillows anymore through his tears. Falling face first in what was left of the demolished pillow throne, he clutched one of the pillows to his face and screamed his throat raw. The pillow soaked up every tear he shed. Even when the moisture became uncomfortable, he continued.

Why couldn't everything just be okay?

* * *

><p>It took Eren two hours before he could come out of his room. He'd cried his eyes until they were dry and cracked with tears that had been left to dry there. Then, upon realizing he'd have to face his problems sooner or later, Eren washed his face, trying to dispose of any evidence that he'd been crying that hard.<p>

He could only take a few steps at a time though, so first thing was first. Carefully unlocking and opening his door, Eren treaded across the hall. Two new suitcases stood outside his room, meaning his dad had given up on trying to get Eren to come over and just dropped some more clothes off for him. Kicking them inside his room, he turned back around and knocked on Levi's door. He hoped Levi would be there so Eren wouldn't have to go looking for him.

Thankfully, Levi opened the door, a fairly well concealed look of shock (but not well enough for Eren not to notice) dawned his face. "Eren."

"Do you… have my backpack?" Eren's voice sounded painful to his own ears. It was scratchy and void of most emotion, and even so… it was the best Eren could do at the moment.

Levi nodded, disappearing from view for a moment. During that short time, Eren gained a quick glance inside Levi's room. It lasted for only a couple seconds so Eren hadn't really seen much, though. Levi popped back up, Eren's bag in hand. "Here you go."

Eren peered over Levi's head for a bit longer before tentatively grasped one of the straps, taking it off Levi's hands. "… Thanks." He turned to leave, but Levi wasn't going to let him go that easily.

"What were you looking at?" Levi asked curiously. His voice had an undertone of caution to it, as if one wrong word would shatter Eren.

And in all honesty, that was entirely possible.

"Excuse me?" Eren asked back, turning around.

"You were looking over my shoulder. Why?"

He shrugged. "I just… have never seen your room before. That's all."

Levi saw his chance, possibly his only chance to attempt to rebuild even the tiniest bit of trust between them again.

"Did you want to?"

"No." Oh… damn. Levi had hoped that with all the noise Eren had made that first day, he might've jumped at the thought of seeing Levi's room. Now he just looked like a self-centered asshole.

Eren turned to leave again, but Levi called him back. "Eren."

"What?"

"You… you know that I had never intended to keep that information from you, right? I have no reason to."

In retrospect, Eren knew that he could have said anything. There were a number of replies he could have used. Instead, all he could manage was, "Okay."

"Eren." He turned back around for the third time, obviously becoming very confused. Levi looked as if he'd been frozen mid-sentence, mouth hanging open and hand outstretched towards Eren. He was struggling with something, that much was obvious to Eren. After a while, Levi closed his useless mouth, hand dropping to his side in a frustrated fist. "What do I say to you?"

It took Eren an equally long time as Levi for him to respond. "You haven't said anything to me." And now, Eren was done talking. No matter how many times Levi called out, Eren wouldn't come back. And with the small click of a lock, Levi knew Eren wasn't going to come out any time soon either.

Levi had to stop himself from slamming the door shut. Eren was so fucking frustrating! How could he go from happy-go-lucky and a general pleasure to be around to acting like a fucking brat in the worst possible way?

Not to mention confusing as fuck too. He hadn't said anything to Eren? What the hell did that mean?

Levi had set out on a journey to understand Eren, and all he's gotten from it so far is that Eren hates the marriage and he's fucking impossible to talk to.

Off on the side, Levi could hear his phone vibrating on his desk. Picking it up, he found that Hanji was calling him. Her obnoxious face filling up the screen. Levi was basically 100% sure that she was only calling to learn more about his "boy toy" Eren.

And that's when one treacherous thought flashed through his mind: Hanji would know what to do.

And Levi knew it too. Hanji had a knack for knowing how to fix Levi's problems, and she was much better at handling other people that Levi… But did he really want to swallow his pride, prove Hanji right, and get teased relentlessly for who knows how long? Would he really do that for Eren?

… Shit.

"Levi! You answered! You never answer on the first call!"

"I need your help."

Levi waited, but there was no response. After about thirty seconds, he finally realized that Hanji had hung up on him! Levi angrily redialed, prepared to yell as soon as Hanji picked up.

"Le-"

"What the hell, you piece of shit?!"

"-vi! Oh my god, does that mean I had the right number?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?!"

"I thought I had the wrong number! You never ask me for help!"

"You have me on speed dial… You've memorized my number… You call it at least a thousand times every month! How the hell could you end up with a wrong number?!" Levi took deep, angry breaths. "And I've asked for your help before!" It wasn't very often, but it did happen.

"You just shocked me is all! You never ask for my help enough," Hanji whined into the phone. "So what can I do for ya?"

"Well now I'm reconsidering," Levi grumbled. He wasn't even joking. This was why he rarely asked Hanji for anything.

"No! No! Tell me! Please!" she begged.

"I… I need help with…" Oh god, here it came… "With my fiancé…" Hanji sputtered a gasp that suddenly had Levi regretting ever considering asking her for help.

"Oh, happy day…" She breathed out. "So what did you do? Piss him off? Freak him out? Clean him too hard?" Hanji snickered at the last one.

"What the hell makes you think that _I_ did something? Maybe he did something!" The silence from the other end was his only answer. Levi took a deep breath, preparing himself for a long chat. "It… it was a little more complicated than that…"

"What happened? Tell me _everything_."

One of the few good things about Hanji was that she was a great listener. Because her father had been a scientist, Hanji had grown up believing that the only way to truly understand something was learning all of the details about it. So she became very good at hanging off of every word spoken in a conversation, hoping to milk out as much information as she could and rarely forgetting anything. And that's exactly what she did here.

"Well," Hanji started. Levi had told her everything that was relevant to the current problem: Levi had been trying to find out more about Eren (though he was careful not to actually say his name) and he'd had some success and they were almost friends, but then Eren found out about the change of plan prematurely and got angry so now he won't talk to Levi. "Looks like you've got quite the temperamental little bride there."

"No kidding…" Levi threaded his fingers through his hear, resting his head on his hand. "I have no idea why he could be mad, though, other than he just didn't like that I didn't tell him right when I found out."

"No one likes being kept in the dark, Levi."

"I wasn't intentionally trying to keep him in the dark! I just thought it would be best to discuss it with my father who actually knew the details!"

"You didn't take his feelings into account, though." Levi said nothing, urging her silently to continue. "From what I heard last time you talking about him, he wasn't too happy about marrying you. So it would be safe to assume that he wasn't exactly thrilled about being forced to spend a week with you. Now imagine this from his point of view: you finally get to go back home and away from this horrible situation, when out of the blue the information that you have to stay there for another three weeks is dumped on your head like a bucket of cold water. Then, you realize that not only were you the last to know, but someone could have explained it to you in a calm manner beforehand."

Levi mentally groaned. He hated when Hanji made sense. "… Are you sure that's why he's angry?" If so then that brat was extremely melodramatic and overemotional. He could be mad, yes, but to that extent?

"It's a logical reason. I know I'd be pretty upset about that if I was in his shoes. But… there's something else that's bothering me."

And this is why Levi asked for Hanji's help here. Her powers of perception could rival Sherlock Holmes. "What?"

"Well… You basically told your fiancé that he could tell you anything, right? Hoping that he would trust you enough to tell you what you wanted to know? And he actually did to an extent, right?"

"Right, right, and right," Levi answered, nodding his head to each one.

"Then… you didn't tell him something important, right?"

"I believe we've already established that."

"And what did he say to you?"

"That I… hadn't said anything to him… fuck… I'm such an _idiot_!" Levi smacked his forehead, knowing it was a pathetic punishment for his stupidity.

"The road you're waking is a two way street, Levi. If you want anything from him, then you're going to have to give something in return."

Levi could see that _now_. And it was so painfully obvious too. Of course he knew he'd have to give something to get something, especially with Eren. He'd already had to do it yesterday. He gave his backstory to get Eren's.

"The fact that you can understand the situation that well with so few facts is pretty terrifying."

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome. Also, I'm going to need that last part in writing. It's not every day our young Levi admits that's he's an idiot~!"

Levi hung up on her. He'd already shown his gratitude in his own way (that Hanji thankfully understood) so he didn't need to be pestered by Hanji's teasing anymore.

* * *

><p>Dinner time rolled around, and that's when Eren finally left his room for more than a couple minutes to grab a bag in an awkward, almost one-sided conversation. However, he kept to himself for most of the time, barely even looking in anyone's general direction. Levi couldn't tell if he was lost in thought or still upset.<p>

Over dinner, Carlton explained the new "rules". Since the old rules had been conditional to the trial week, new ones had to be made for the long term stay. Although, they were less rules and more like guidelines.

Eren would be living in the mansion as if already part of the family. Really, though, the only difference that would make would mean that there would be no scheduling of lunch and dinner and Eren and Levi would have complete control over their free time. Meaning that they could spend time together, but it wasn't necessary anymore. As for school, since none of his friends were close enough to pick him up easily, Eren could either be driven directly to and from school in as inconspicuous a car as possible by a chauffeur, or the chauffeur could drive him to his house so Eren could be picked up by his friends.

Needless to say that Eren chose the last option without hesitation. It would mean waking up earlier, but Eren wasn't about to give up spending as much time with his friends as possible.

Carlton was surprisingly the first one to finish. And as if he knew that Eren and Levi needed to talk alone, Carlton was also the first to leave. As soon as he was out of earshot, Levi was going to-

"Levi?" Or not. He paused in picking at what was left of his food (just like Eren was doing) giving Eren his full attention. "I'm sorry. I… overreacted earlier today…" Turns out the one good thing about Eren acting like a little shit is that he's apparently always the first to apologize when he was.

But Levi shook his head. "You had every right to be upset. I should have told you when I found out so you wouldn't feel… in the dark about everything. You have the right to know."

"But you were going to tell me when we got back-"

"And in hesitating, you ended up finding out when you weren't prepared."

"But-"

"Will you stop? I'm trying to apologize here." Eren shut up. "I didn't have the right to keep that kind of information from you… especially after insisting that you could tell me anything. It wasn't fair and… I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Eren couldn't stop the small smile that slipped out. "I think I can do that." Levi smiled back, unbelievably relieved.

Eren wasn't going to trust Levi just yet, but he could definitely forgive him.

* * *

><p><strong>Was that a suitable enough chapter to quench your demand for happiness? No? Good. My plan is working then. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!<strong>

**No, but seriously, Eren's a dumb fuck. JUST KISS ALREADY!**

**Maybe if you guys review, they'll kiss sooner… ;) Hahaha just kidding, Eren's too much of a dumb fuck…**

**Thanks to all who have reviewed so far too! Your comments inspire me…**

**Hope you enjoyed that chapter!**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


	13. Relationships are Hard and School Sucks

**Woohoo! Lucky number 13! ….wait I think I did that wrong…**

**Btw, page breaks are acting up again so if two paragraphs don't seem to correlate with each other, it's because the FUCKING PAGE BREAK DISAPPEARED LIKE A BITCH FUCK THIS SHIT I WILL MURDER THESE CRAPPY THINGS!**

**That is all.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13: Relationships are Hard and School Just Sucks<strong>

Eren didn't talk to Levi as much anymore. Granted, Levi wasn't a very conversational person, but over the past few days he'd already gotten used to Eren's excessive talking and now that it had been limited Levi sort of… missed it. To Levi, if Eren was talking that meant everything was okay. Now that there were more periods of silence in their interactions, it left Levi with an uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong and he had no way to fix it.

Eren could see all of the worried glances Levi sent his way when he thought Eren wasn't looking, but he just wasn't ready to be as open with Levi yet. Eren knew he'd overreacted just a bit, but it still hurt. He knew he'd be comfortable around Levi eventually, maybe some time soon even, but he just needed a little time.

So that Sunday had been quite awkward indeed.

It was a relief when Monday morning rolled around. Even if Eren could have slept he wouldn't have that night. He was far too excited. So excited, in fact, that he'd run out of the car before it had fully stopped in front of his house.

Mikasa was waiting on the front porch.

"Eren!" She was clearly worried about the fact that Eren had just jumped out of a moving vehicle, but she was happier about the fact that Eren was alright and hadn't ended up burning the mansion down in anger.

Eren ran straight into her arms. "Mikasa oh my god you have no idea how happy I am to see you!" he rushed out, nearly tripping over his own words.

She laughed, returning Eren's bone crushing hug. "You dropped your bag in the middle of the yard!"

"I don't care! It's not like there's anything important in it anyway!"

"Are you telling me school isn't important?" A new voice chimed.

"Mom!" Eren released his hold on Mikasa only to latch onto his mother. Carla returned the hug wholeheartedly, a great big smile on her face.

"Oh, my son… I hope this last week wasn't too horrible…" She gently stroked her son's hair as he buried his face in her shoulder, and Eren couldn't find a reason to be mad at her.

"It's fine, mom…" he whispered. He didn't want to get into any details or give her any reason to ask any more questions. Not right before school. Eren swallowed a lump in his throat. "Where… Where's-"

"Out of town," Carla informed gently. She knew what he wanted to ask before he finished asking. "One of the hospitals had an emergency and your father needed to be there."

"Oh…" Eren was only slightly disappointed. Seeing his dad would have been great, but their relationship still wasn't the best right now.

"He'll be back in a couple days and when he is we can all sit down to dinner and you can tell us all about your adventures with Levi. I hear he's quite handsome." Carla smiled knowingly, hoping to lighten the mood. It worked.

"Mom…" Eren whined.

"What? Did you think I wasn't going to find out? Sweetie, I've known from the beginning."

Eren hid his face farther into his mother's shoulder, hiding his blush. "No, just… don't call him handsome…"

"Oh? Is Eren embarrassed by how attractive Levi was?" Carla teased.

"Mom!"

Mikasa couldn't help but laugh at her brother's distress. But, thankfully for Eren, help came in the form of a honking, powder blue Prius. "Come on, Eren." Mikasa pulled on Eren's sleeve. "Jean and Marco are here to take us to school."

"Oh my god I never thought I'd be so happy to hear that sentence in my life." Giving his mom one last hug, Eren made a mad dash for his bag, still in the middle of the lawn, and followed Mikasa to the car.

Once they were situated comfortably in the car and they'd all exchanged greetings, Eren cut off anything Jean was about to say with, "Don't ask me anything about last week. I'm not going to repeat everything a thousand times just because you all couldn't wait for everyone else. Got it?"

Jean shut his mouth, grumbling incoherently as he pouting in the front seat.

* * *

><p>For the first time in his life, Eren was ecstatic to be back in class. School was the one place that didn't remind him of marriages or Levi or-<p>

"So as you all know, we're going to begin reading Hamlet!"

Fuck.

Memories of a warm nap under a tree with a rich voice reading the words of Hamlet came flooding back. Why did that have to be the book Levi wanted to read that day? They had a library for god's sake! Out of all the books he could have chosen…

"We'll begin reading tomorrow," the teacher informed as she passed out their personal copies. "As for today, I'm going to take you deep into the setting of Hamlet, so you can fully appreciate the world that they live in as we read."

This was going to be one long class…

The rest of Eren's classes were fine, despite the occasional pester from his friends about his week with Levi Voclain. There was only one problem Eren was noticing.

He almost fell asleep in almost all of them. Since the horrible feelings at the mansion stayed at the mansion, Eren was getting the full effect of the toll staying up all night took. It didn't help that some of his teachers were just generally boring, which made it easier for sleep to pull Eren under. There was no hiding it either. Everybody could see it, even if they couldn't see just how bad it was.

Eren wouldn't tell his friends, he didn't want them to worry, but there was no way he could keep it from Mikasa and Armin. Even if he didn't want to tell them, Mikasa was sharper than a knife and could notice any minor changes in anything and Armin was so observant and smart he could probably figure out exactly what was wrong without Eren even saying anything.

So at lunch, he managed to isolate them from the rest of their friends who also had lunch that period and told them.

"I thought something was wrong." See? Sharper than a knife and he didn't even have any morning classes with her. "At first I thought you'd just done another all-nighter to game but you're usually not _this_ tired."

"And you haven't tried talking to anyone about this?" Armin asked.

"How could I?" Eren demanded, sitting on one of the desks in the empty classroom they'd found. "I've made it so obvious to everyone that I'd do almost anything to get out of this shitty marriage. They wouldn't believe me!"

"Well you can't just keeping going like you are! You'll pass out who knows where!" Mikasa sat on the desk right next to Eren's.

"Avoiding sleep for so long isn't good for anybody. How you're still awake now is a complete mystery to me. You have to talk to someone!" Armin stressed. He chose to sit in an actual seat nearby.

"Maybe I can ask the chauffeur to pick me up late each day!" Eren offered. "Then I can nap after school before he picks me up!" It was foolproof in Eren's eyes, but his friends weren't buying it.

"For three weeks?" Armin couldn't believe that anyone, even Eren, could do something like that.

"It's not possible, Eren," Mikasa stated definitively. "Your mom is going to worry about you, and you know you won't be able to lie about it to her."

"Not to mention that even with those naps you're going to get worse. You can't function even remotely well like that!" Nobody could, but it couldn't be helped.

"It's either that or no sleep at all! The only other thing I could do is sleep outside-"

"Absolutely not." Mikasa's Mother Mode. "You'll just get sick among being sleep deprived."

"You see?!" Eren cried out, waving a hand at Mikasa and her counterargument. "I don't have a choice! I just need to suck it up until Levi's grandpa comes back and everything will be fine."

"Let me guess," Armin deadpanned, "that's exactly what you thought before they decided to keep you there for another three weeks." Damn Armin for being smart.

"… They can't possibly find any more reasons to keep me there after this."

But it couldn't be argued any more. They had to get to lunch before any of their friends became too suspicious.

* * *

><p>And now, the moment he'd been dreading all day… The moment he couldn't have gotten out of no matter how hard he tried…<p>

"All right!" Ymir commanded pinning Eren to her truck. "Time to spill the beans, boy." The rest of his friends surrounded them, all nodding in agreement with Ymir.

Eren groaned, wanting so badly to disappear. "Can we not…?" he whined pathetically.

"Hell no!" Jean shouted, pushing to the front of the small crowd. Because twelve people in between two cars in a parking lot, even with an empty parking space separating the two cars, was a crowd. "You spent a week with Levi-fucking-Voclain, and we have a right to know what happened!"

"It's called privacy, horseface!" Eren shouted right back. Then he looked around nervously. "And lower your voice. I don't need anyone else knowing!"

"You know what I think?" Marco offered. "He secretly liked it and doesn't want to admit it."

Eren blushed at the shouts of agreement. "Wha-? N-No! That's not it!" That most certainly was it, but like hell if Eren was going to admit it without a fight.

"Then tell us!"

"He was an asshole," Eren said without missing a beat, and it was partially true. Not mostly, but definitely partially.

"Oh, come on! He couldn't have been an asshole all week!"

"Didn't you take my advice?" Jean wondered, scoffing. "He was probably really nice and just wanted to be friends with you but you were an asshole!"

Eren clenched his fists. Jean's whole speech on getting to know Levi made a lot more sense. "Oh, which reminds me… What gave you three the right to tell Levi anything about me?!" Jean, Marco, and Christa shrank away from Eren's accusing finger.

"He… told you?" Marco pushed Jean in front of him, trying to keep out of Eren's line of fire even if it meant sacrificing his own boyfriend.

It wouldn't help. "Damn right he did! And you guys suck!" Eren would shoot through both of them at once.

"We were just trying to help…" Christa voice was heard, but Christa herself couldn't be found. Ymir was much better protection than Jean.

"But wait!" Jean threw out in a last ditch attempt to save himself (and his boyfriend). "He wouldn't have told you unless you two were actually getting along, right?"

Eren faltered. "W-Well… maybe he let it slip while we were fighting?" It could have worked had Eren had more conviction when he said it, but alas, he was caught off guard.

"Oh really?" Reiner smirked. "Is that what happened?"

"What?" Eren squeaked… in a very manly way, mind you.

"Did he let it slip while you two were fighting?"

"Uh… Of course. He's an asshole after all."

"You liar." Eren gasped, shocked that his own sister, who was innocently avoiding eye contact with Eren, would sell him out like that.

"Seriously, you're blushing hella hard."

"You really like him don't you?"

"Alright fine!" Eren caved, scuffing his foot on the ground and crossing his arms over his chest, definitely not pouting. "He… wasn't… isn't as bad as I thought he was going to be…" There was a collective "awww" from most of the group that only made Eren blush harder.

"So when's the wedding?" Connie snorted. Eren shot a fierce and deadly glare at Connie, effectively silencing his obnoxious laugh.

"So after you stopped being the dick we all know and love-" another glare was shot to Ymir "-what did you guys do?"

Eren shrugged. Had a water fight (that Eren totally would have won if Levi hadn't cheated). "Nothing really worth mentioning…" Fell asleep on Levi's lap. "We didn't really do much…" Shared leftover paninis at three in the morning. "And there really wasn't much to do…" Slept in the same bed alone and deep in the woods.

"Seriously? You had to have done something!"

"We… watched some movies, played some games, and he… took me hiking… to his… fancy cottage…" A collective gasp swept through the group.

"He took you to a cottage?"

"Were you guys alone?"

"Did you guys do it?"

Honestly, if there had been a weapon within easy grabbing range of Eren, he probably would have tried to bash Connie's skull in… At least a little bit.

"Yes, he took me to a cottage, yes, we were alone, and no, we didn't fucking do it! I've known him a week and I fought with him for half of it. There is nothing more to say. It's really not that interesting!" Definitely not pouting again.

"Yes it is!" Sasha argued merrily. "Our little Eren finally has someone he can call his own!"

"And it's not someone from our group! How are we supposed to know if he's not a crazy serial killer?" That was possibly the most sane and sweetest thing Connie ever said to Eren while being totally serious.

"Yeah, we only want to make sure you're doing alright." Reiner laid a large but gentle hand on Eren's shoulder, his face sympathetic and caring. Glancing around Eren found that all his friends shared similar looks. Even quiet Annie smiled, in her own special way.

Eren dropped his gaze to the ground, a little bashful. "Well… thanks… But I'm not lying, there really isn't anything else that happened."

"So then what's Levi really like?" But Armin cut Eren off before he could say anything. "Aside from him being an asshole."

"He's…" How could Eren describe Levi…? "Different… from what most media describes him as. He's not… very good at talking to people. He's very honest, but doesn't quite know what to say. And he's very… considerate of the people around him." He also listened very well, really paid attention to details. Tended to be a bit of a dork too. But he really seemed to care…

When no one responded immediately, like they usually would, Eren looked up only to flinch back from his friends who now looked at him like he'd just appeared in front of them out of nowhere.

"What?!"

They began muttering among themselves but loud enough for Eren to hear.

"Did you see the way he talked about Levi?"

"He had such a dreamy look on his face."

"I don't think I've ever seen Eren like this."

"Me neither."

"It's like finding a unicorn."

"He's in love with Levi!"

"I am not!" Eren yelled, thoroughly pissed off. That was so like his friends. Caring and kind one moment and the next they were right back to teasing him like no tomorrow. It was the kind of friendship that made everyone always question why they were friends in the first place. "Alright, show and tell is over now so just go home already!"

"First, answer me this or I'm not driving you home," Jean demanded, pointing a finger at Eren. "Are you in love with Levi?"

"_I will walk home_," Eren growled menacingly.

"Please?!" everyone begged.

Eren's response was to start walking from the parking lot. He wasn't joking about walking back. He'd do it. And everyone knew he would.

"Alright, feisty pants," Marco laughed as he grabbed on to Eren's arm, pulling him back. "Calm down. Let's get you home."

* * *

><p>It was only when Eren had been shoved back inside the Voclain company car, and he was quite literally shoved inside, that he realized he'd forgotten to mention to his friends how he'd be staying at the mansion for the next three weeks…<p>

Eh, they'll find out eventually. In the meantime, if they don't know, they can't constantly ask to come over. Eren will probably end up telling them by the time the weekend rolls around, but he didn't need them showing up during the week. He could only imagine how they would bother him every day about coming over to "study" or some other lame excuse like that.

The car pulled up to the front of the house, which Eren was glad for. He actually hadn't seen the garage at all and didn't even know how to get there.

He would never get used to the echoes of the front doors closing in the front hall, though, similar to the sound iron bars of prison doors locking a prisoner in. This place was far too empty and large.

"I'm back…" Eren called out unsurely. Did everyone usually announce their arrival here? Carlton did, but did anyone else? And was there anyone here to even tell? It really felt far too empty in here.

He just stood there awkwardly until he noticed a maid in the other room.

"Excuse me." She looked up. "Is Levi here?" He knew Carlton wouldn't, but what about Levi?

She shook her head. "Both Levi and Carlton are still at work."

"O… Oh. Okay… Thank you."

Eren meandered upstairs before she could ask any questions. If she was going to, that is, but he doubted it. Most of the employees here didn't try to stand out much. And they did a fantastic job of it. He entered his room, dropping his bag by the door.

He could get on his laptop and play games all night. That's what he did yesterday. Now that the trial week was over, Eren's dad had packed Eren's laptop in with one of the suitcases that was brought over. At least now he wouldn't be totally bored at night.

But Eren wasn't really feeling like gaming right now… Actually, he was pretty lonely. Levi had been with Eren every day for that whole week and now… he wasn't there. Of course, Eren couldn't expect Levi to come home early because Eren wanted company. So he wandered downstairs to the kitchen. Chef Hannes would be there unless he was sick.

And there he was, preparing for dinner.

"Eren!" he bellowed once he caught sight of Eren. "Haven't seen you in a while. Heard you went with Levi up to the cottage." He wiggled his eyebrows and Eren chuckled softly.

"Yeah, he took me up to the cottage. Oh, wait, scratch that. He made me hike up to the cottage."

"Exercise is good for you, ya know."

"Yeah, but give a guy some warning! Do you know what it was like realizing you'd just hiked for hours when there was a damn driveway?"

Eren fell comfortably back into the rhythm of conversing with Chef Hannes. He was surprisingly easy to talk to, and the more they talked the more Eren relaxed. They continued talking as Chef Hannes began to actually cook dinner, and Chef Hugo threw in a few comments of his own from time to time as well. The three of them joked around, and, despite Chef Hannes' insistence, Eren did in fact see him sneak quite a few bites from the meal-in-process.

It was while they were laughing at one of Chef Hannes' jokes that an unexpected Levi walked in, searching for Eren.

Eren straightened up, ceasing the laughter in shock. "Levi!"

"Eren," Levi was just as shocked, but only for a moment, "You're… here." Eren was sure that Levi had wanted to say something else, but words were eluding him for some reason.

"Yes… I am," Eren said. "Did… You need something?"

Levi shook his head. "I just… wanted to make sure you got back okay… School was good?"

Eren nodded. "Yeah… It was fine… And… work was… good?"

Levi nodded. "Yes." And, after a pregnant pause, Levi left. Once he was gone, Chef Hugo had trouble keeping his laughter in check.

Eren didn't blame him. That exchange was laughter worthy with how horridly awkward it had been. And this is how all their interactions were since Saturday. If not trusting Levi meant he'd have to endure this then Eren was going to have to try harder to trust Levi. A _lot_ harder.

"Kid, you're gonna have to talk to Levi."

Eren sighed miserably, staring at the door Levi had just left from. "Don't I know it…?"

"No, I don't think you do."

Eren turned sharply. "What? Why do you say that?"

"Well, if you did then you'd be talking to him. You can't blame him for what happened. It's not his fault."

"I don't! That's… That's not why I'm…"

"Then why? Did something else happen?"

Eren wasn't sure what he was going to say to that, whether to tell Chef Hannes the truth or try to lie, but before he could decide he was bombarded with thoughts of what he said earlier. For some reason he was remembering how he'd tried to describe Levi earlier. He wasn't sure why. Did their awkward conversation have anything to do with it?

Either way, Eren was struck with a thought he couldn't get out of his head. "He… Levi isn't good with people is he?"

"He's had the same few friends for years. He may be good with the media and business partners, but I'm guessing he's not so knowledgeable about more personal relationships."

Eren hung his head, hiding his face from view of either Chef Hannes or Chef Hugo. His shoulders started to shake, and the two chefs shared a glance and a shrug, both thoroughly confused. Chef Hannes, thinking Eren was crying, stretched out a hand to pat Eren comfortingly on the shoulder. Why Eren was crying, he didn't know, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to comfort the kid.

Before Chef Hannes' hand could make contact, however, Eren lifted his head, hand not quite covering his smile.

He was laughing.

Oh how bad they both were at this, Eren and Levi. Two guys who hadn't needed to make friends in years trying to figure things out. They'd gone from fighting, to actually kind of being friends, to two awkward turtles flailing around on their backs for no other reason than Eren being an overreacting spaz. Their relationship was hysterical.

"I'm an idiot." There had been a miscommunication that upset Eren and both Levi and Eren had apologized for it. So there really was no reason for acting like he had been.

Chef Hannes had a knowing smile. "Go talk to him you ditz."

Eren smiled back, leaving the kitchen.

Now that the trial week had ended, dinner was no longer going to be scheduled. It was going to start being served around seven instead, since apparently Levi took after his grandpa and would often stay later at work. So Eren figured he'd be able to sneak in some time to talk to Levi.

Eren had to stop on the stairs to keep himself from laughing again. Really, what had he been thinking? What was not talking to Levi going to solve? They'd both made a mistake and Eren was just prolonging everything from being the way it used to be.

If he was completely honest… he missed Levi's company.

Although, this time around, he wasn't going to make the mistake of thinking he could tell Levi that he couldn't sleep. He must have just been high off of the surreal night they'd had or whatever, but now that he could think clearly he for sure wasn't going to tell Levi. It wasn't that he thought Levi would yell at him… maybe only like… 5 percent of him thought that… maybe 8ish…? …Possibly 10, but no higher than that! Eren wasn't the only one with a temper…

Besides, Eren could totally figure this out on his own. He felt bad about keeping Levi in the dark and knew it wasn't fair to Levi, who had shown that he only wanted to help, but telling him would only cause unnecessary drama. Levi wouldn't be able to do anything so he'd just be needlessly worrying about it while Eren tried to do exactly what he would do if Levi didn't know: trying to find a way around it.

Plus, he could just tell Levi everything after it was all okay. Levi had tried to wait for a better time to tell Eren about the change of plans, so why couldn't Eren wait for a better time to tell Levi?

A small voice in his head told him that Eren had gotten mad at Levi when he didn't tell Eren right away and that Levi had even apologized for it when he knew he shouldn't have kept it from Eren and that Eren probably shouldn't do the same thing, but Eren quickly silenced that voice.

He could live in denial for as long as he wanted.

Eren knocked on Levi's door.

"Eren?"

He quickly spun around, really not expecting Levi to be walking down the hall rather than in his room.

"Levi! You're… not here…" Eren gestured vaguely towards Levi's room.

Levi, raised an eyebrow. "No… I was getting a book to read." He held up his book as proof. That would explain why he was walking from the direction of the library.

Eren nodded once. "Right… that makes sense."

"I'm sorry, did you need something?"

"How was your day?" Eren hadn't exactly expected the best, but he didn't expect to revert back to the awkward turtle.

"Fine…" Levi drew out the word suspiciously. "Didn't you already ask me this?"

"No, I asked you how work was."

"Work was all my day was, so it's basically the same thing."

"Well maybe something happened during lunch!"

"I eat at work."

"You don't drive at work, maybe some asshole cut you off or something!"

"Fine, my drive to and from work was fine."

"No, that's not what I… Ugh!"

Levi glanced from Eren to his door. "Do you… want to come in?" he asked, figuring out what was going on.

Eren smiled, relieved, and nodded.

* * *

><p>There really hadn't been any real reason why Eren had avoided talking to Levi, and he knew that now. Slipping back into that level of comfort had been mindlessly easy. They'd talked about everything and nothing. Eren even did his homework in Levi's room. They left when dinner was ready, but almost immediately after dinner they were right back where they were before.<p>

Around ten, Eren started yawning, and keeping his eyes open was becoming increasingly difficult. He almost fell asleep on Levi's couch (Levi had a couch in his room. A couch a chairs! What? Why did he need a couch and chairs?). And Levi noticed. So around half an hour later, Eren had been kicked out to get some sleep.

Yawning once more, Eren plopped across his remade pillow throne. Through his exhaustion, Eren was excited. His heavy eyes were closing steadily, and he thought that maybe, just once, he might be able to fall asleep. Talking to Levi always made him feel better and they'd talked for hours. Surely this once…

Eren couldn't have closed his eyes for more than a couple of minutes, but they slowly blinked open.

Something wasn't right.

Eren could feel it creeping up inside him, slow and dull, but there.

Groaning, Eren pulled one of the towels over his head, still as soft as when he first found them. Curling up under it, Eren tried his hardest to ignore the feeling. He closed his eyes tight, but even then there wasn't much he could do.

The feeling didn't grow though, which surprised Eren. Usually he had to fight by distracting himself to keep it quiet like this.

It made for a restless night. One where Eren would almost be asleep, only to wake up before he really could. And by the time morning came, Eren wasn't really sure if he preferred it like that.

He nodded off almost anytime he could once he left the mansion for school. There were bags under his eyes that seemed more pronounced than before. And if physical appearance wasn't enough to suggest he didn't have a very good night, he was also lethargic to the point where he personally compared himself to a slug.

It was so obvious. The driver kept asking questions to keep him awake, which Eren appreciated. Mikasa, after clearly expressing her obvious disapproval of his state of being, got him an extra cup of coffee and viciously pinched his arm as many times as she could. Eren was going to have a mega bruise there tomorrow, he just knew it.

And the worst part was that everyone commented on it. Armin and Mikasa especially, considering they knew why he was so tired. They all suggested he go to the nurse to lie down or something, but he was determined to see this day through. He could sleep back at home. The driver would just have to come back later. He didn't care what Levi or Carlton would say. He wanted sleep. Sleep…

Eren pinched his arm again, just like Mikasa had. He couldn't sleep now. Later.

That method worked pretty well for his first two classes, and he could only hope that he could make it through this class too. English.

That was when Marco, who shared his English class, spoke up.

"Eren, are you really okay?" His voice emanated worry like a hot stove emanated heat. "You look like you're about to drop dead."

"Look, I'm all ready for college." Eren's poor attempt at a joke just sounded like the delirious slurs of a drunk, and they both knew it. Groaning, Eren sobered up his speech. "I just had a rough night. I'll wake up soon enough." He hoped.

Marco didn't look convinced, in fact, he looked even more worried than he was before, but didn't press it anymore. Eren almost wished that he would press more, if only because the talking was keeping Eren more awake.

The last time Eren had felt like this, he'd fallen asleep on Levi for the whole day. But that had been after… four? Four days without sleep. It hadn't been that long yet… Had he just not gotten enough sleep beforehand to be able to make it another four days? Could he even make it through this class?

Another pinch.

He'd have to start pinching harder. He was getting used to the current level of pain they inflicted.

Their teacher came in not too much longer after. He didn't listen to too much of what she said other than that they needed to get their books out. Eren stared at the cover of his, not really seeing it.

SMACK

Eren jumped, his teacher's copy of the book still sitting on his desk where his teacher had thwacked it with.

"I suggest you wake up, Eren," she warned. Some of his classmates giggled. Others, if Eren had been looking, looked more concerned for Eren's general wellbeing than they were entertained by it. "Open your book to Act I."

Following the instructions, Eren put all of his effort into focusing on the words being spoken.

It had the opposite effect.

The more the tape recording spoke, since no one knew how to read Shakespeare, the more it sounded like Levi.

The classroom faded away, desks and chairs forming into bushes and flowers. Students turned to trees, tall with trails of sunlight like streamers flowing through the baby green leaves. And somewhere beside him was a soothing voice, deep and rough, but rumbling with a strange warmth that Eren couldn't place. It spoke words he couldn't understand, but he lost himself in them. The scenery turned black.

"Eren!"

* * *

><p>"Levi!" a short, auburn haired woman called. "Your phone's ringing." She brought it over to Levi, who'd been tending to another coworker. The office around them buzzed with workers.<p>

"Thank you." He didn't bother checking to see who was calling, a nasty habit he'd picked up from working fast paced. "Hello?"

"Levi? It's Grisha. Can you head back to your home?"

"Go home? Why?"

"Something's happened with Eren."

* * *

><p><strong>OH HO HO HO?! HAS SOMETHING HAPPENED TO EREN? Well, you all will NEVER KNOW! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Just kidding. He's actually dead. This is the end. They never get together… Pandas take over the world too. With the help of lobsters. They just rise up from the restaurant tanks and start killing people… I seriously hope no one took that seriously. Eren's not dead I promise. You're safe from the lobsters too. Pandas on the other hand…<strong>

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! Your comments mean a lot to me :) So if you want me to feel even better…. There's that review box down below… You know… if you wanted to…**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Or at least everything but the end! :D**

**:)Puppy-Chan(:**


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